Another Life I
by burmafrd
Summary: What if Liz had not needed Max that day in the Crashdown?
1. Chapter 1

OK this is a first for me. Usual warnings about not for profit, etc. ALL due respect to those that invented/own these universes. Inspired by Bored to Mundane Lifes CONCEPT OF ETERNITY. Unfortunately it seems that bored will not be finishing it- its been several years since an update and all PM's have not been answered. So I am going to try my own version. Big difference will be no super Immortal like Bored had- no gary stus or Mary Sue's.  
Parings: CC-at this time. May change.

Rating: Mature

Subject: What if Liz was not healed by Max. What if she had no need for any intervention...

Another Life

Liz Parker was tired of Maria harping on Max Evans. True he did seem to be interested in her but he never did anything about it. As far as Liz was concerned he had to step up to get into the game. She admitted to herself hat her current relationship with Kyle Valenti was probably not going anywhere. They were friends but more than that just did not seem likely.  
It was getting close to noon and the Crashdown was starting to get busy. Liz admitted to herself that the tacky decorations in the Crashdown (alien themes did well in Roswell, naturally) sometimes gave her the willies-despite the fact that she milked the more gullible tourists with a rather hideous alien photograph that she had created as a joke some years ago.

Liz headed towards the serving counter to pick up her next order, Jose having rung the bell that let the waitresses know that an order was ready. Liz knew it was hers since Maria had not put in any orders for several minutes. As she picked up the order of onion rings (Saturn Rings) and Men in Blackberry Pie, she heard an argument start in one of the booths. She turned towards the booth in curiosity, just in time to see two men struggling with each other and fall out of the booth. She did not have time to do anything else as what they were grappling for went off.

The sound of the pistol shot echoed off the walls of the café. Most of the customers immediately dove to the floor. Liz did not see any of this as the impact of the bullet to her stomach sent her backwards against the counter, before sliding down. One other person also did not go for the floor- Max Evans. All Max could see – his total occupation of all his facilities- was Liz Parker slamming up against the counter before falling to the floor, the front of her alien themed uniform already red with blood.

Shrugging off his best friends arm Max raced for Liz. Michael Gurrin knew what Max was going to do and it scared him. Max was going to use his special abilities to heal Liz Parker without regard to being found out. Just because he had a thing for Liz. He was going to expose all of them just for a teenaged crush.

Max reached Liz and tore open the front of her costume, exposing her bleeding stomach. He looked at her face. Her eyes were closed. Desperately Max tried to wake her. But she was out cold. He then placed his hand on the wound and tried to will it closed. Nothing happened but his hand being covered by blood. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

Maria was terrified that Liz was going to die. Max Evans had raced to her and was trying to put pressure on the wound. Maria had managed to get enough of a grip on herself to call 911. Now she was just hoping they could save Liz.  
Max realized that Liz was not going to regain consciousness and without that there was nothing he could do. All he could do was keep pressure on the wound and pray the ambulance would get Liz to the hospital on time.

Sheriff Jim Valenti had been just passing by the Crashdown when he saw two men racing from the entrance. He immediately hit the lights and siren and then went in pursuit as one of the men had a gun in his hand. Calling for backup he heard that someone had been shot inside. The man with the gun saw him and threw it down before running up the alley next to the Crashdown. By sheer coincidence the other patrol vehicle in Roswell at that time was passing down the street at the end of the alley and one of his deputies blocked the other end. The man stopped and turned around only to see Valenti with his pistol out aimed right at him. He immediately gave up, stammering over and over again that it was an accident and he did not mean to do it. Valenti let his deputy handcuff and Miranda the man, while he went into the Crashdown, just after the ambulance got there. Going in he saw Liz Parker being placed on the gurney for transport to the town hospital.  
Max was terrified that Liz was going to die, and depressed because he had not been able to do anything. Watching the attendants loading Liz on the gurney, he was startled by someone taking hold of his arm and pulling him away. He turned and saw it was the Sheriff.

Valenti had seen Max Evans standing there with a shocked look on his face and blood on his hands watching Liz Parker being prepared for transport. He realized that Max was partially in shock himself and pulled him away to try and get him calmed down.  
"Max, can you tell me what happened?" Valenti asked. Max, with a slightly dazed look on his face, blinked and said. "Two men in that booth over there were arguing and then started to fight with each other and fell out of the booth. Then a gun went off and Liz was hit." Valenti nodded. "We got the guy with the gun and are after the other one as well." Max nodded slightly. "At least the SOB will not get away with it". Valenti nodded. "Lots of witnesses, we have the gun, there is no way he is not going to be spending a fair amount of time in jail. If we lose Liz, he will spend the rest of his life inside, I can promise you that Max". Max shrugged. "If we lose Liz then I hope he burns in hell" .Valenti blinked at that hard statement coming from someone he considered one of the quietest and nicest young men in Roswell. I guess Max has a crush on Liz, he thought.

In the Emergency room of the hospital, doctors and nurses worked to save Liz Parker. She had arrived with just barely a pulse and almost non existent blood pressure. But prompt IV's and other measures had seemed to stabilize her. After about half an hour, the senior doctor stood up and stretched his shoulders."I think we have her OK for the time being. Lets get a full set of X Rays to see where the bullet ended up."

Jeff and Nancy Parker had just arrived at the hospital as the Doctor came out of the emergency room. He recognized them and walked towards them. "Mr and Mrs Parker, your daughter is stabile at the moment. We are now getting X Rays to see where the bullet ended up. Unless its somewhere close to the spine we will probably not go into her stomach to get it out at this time. Might not need to go after it at all- we shall see." Jeff and Nancy sagged in relief. They had feared the worst.

Unknown to the doctor, the bullet had not lodged in the intestines but had stopped right next to the renal artery on the right side. As Liz was placed in the bed in the ICU, it started to move downwards, touching the artery. At the same time the new nurse hooking up the monitors made a mistake. The ECG that was supposed to monitor Liz she pressed the wrong button and put the machine on test mode, which was a loop that repeated itself. The steady beat of the buzzer was misleading.

As they finally settled Liz into the bed, the attendants jarred her slightly- but it was enough for the bullet to damage the artery. Unknown to anyone, Liz Parker was about to bleed to death.  
Thinking the ECG was monitoring Liz, the nurses left to attend to other duties. Within 15 minutes, Liz's heart stopped. Elizabeth Parker was dead.

2hrs afterwards, the ICU doctor was making his rounds. As he came to Liz Parkers bed, he noticed the ECG had stopped. Looking at the control panel, he was shocked to see the setting. Immediately he checked Liz Parkers pulse. Relieved to find it strong and steady, he shouted for the nurse on duty. She came running up and looked at what he was pointing too. The shock on her face only barely rivaled the anger on his. "What the hell happened here? Who set up this monitor?" he growled. She shook her head "I think it was the new nurse but I am not sure." "Find out" he ordered.  
The Doctor ordered a full set of readings be taken immediately. And a formal report on what happened.  
"We are lucky she was stabile. She could have died and no one would have known". He grimly stated. 15 minutes later he was looking at the readings and shaking his head. They were higher and stronger then anyone shot just 3 hours earlier should have. He looked down at the still unconscious girl and remarked to the nurse. "Miss Parker must have the constitution of the proverbial horse. At this rate she will be out of here inside of a couple of days." "Well she is young and strong" said the nurse. "True, but this kind of rate of healing is still unusual." The Doctor shook his head again. "This girl has a fair amount of luck- healing fast and having a scatter brain nurse disable her monitor- and it ending up not mattering.

Not quite an hour later, Liz Parker woke up. Looking around her, she was puzzled until the memories came back. Her eyes widened and she looked down at her stomach, swathed in bandages. Curiosity over coming her common sense, since she felt just fine BUT she knew she had been shot, she started to unbandage herself. Startled by the fact she felt no pain, she got the bandage off and looked at an unmarked stomach. Her mouth dropped open. How can this be- I know I was shot. I remembered feeling the blow to my stomach and seeing the blood. I am in the hospital and yet there is no indication anything happened. Her analytical mind worked on the situation. OK, there is no sign I was shot and yet there are some blood stains on the bandage. She was then distracted by finding some thread with the bandage. Stitches, she thought. These are from the stitches. BUT how did they get out of the wound, which to all appearances never existed. This is NOT possible, she thought. BUT it has happened. She looked around the darkened room. It was early evening and since this was early January, it was getting dark outside as well. She looked at the IV and machines she was hooked up to and thought about her situation. If anyone finds out about this they will never let it go. I do not want to be a curiosity or become a lab rat. I have to find a way to hide what has happened but how?

Duncan McCleod was passing through Roswell when he happened to see the ambulances taking a young woman out of a tacky looking alien themed café. Traffic was stopped but the ambulance went right by him- close enough for him to feel a very faint buzz. His eyes widened; a pre immortal, perhaps? If so, she might be one of us soon, he thought. After traffic was allowed to move again, he made his way to the town hospital to wait and see.

Duncan made his why quietly through the darkened corridors of the hospital. He had been able to overhear enough to know who had been brought in and why. He hoped that the young girl, pre immortal or not, had not died. Even if she was immortal, 16 years old is very young to be part of the Game. Using his years of experience, he managed to get into the ICU without anyone seeing him. As he got closer to where he thought Liz Parker was at, he felt it. A buzz from a New Immortal. Sadly, he made his way to where he was about to change a young girls life forever. And forever might just be that.

Liz was still trying to figure out a way to get a handle on her situation when a blinding pain lanced through her head. Groaning, she muttered "What in the world is this. I have enough of a problem without a migraine coming on." "Its not a migraine miss Parker" she heard. "Look at me and it will go away"  
Liz looked up at a tall dark and handsome stranger. And just like that the headache disappeared.  
"How did you do that" she whispered.  
"I did nothing. Its just the way it works" Duncan said.  
"what do you mean, its just the way it works" asked Liz, totally in the dark.

Duncan saw that she had taken off her bandage. Figuring she knew something was wrong with the situation, he decided the direct approach was better in this situation. "I can see that you have taken off your bandage. Let me guess- you found no trace of a wound at all right? And right now you are wondering what in the world has happened, correct?"  
Liz looked at the stranger. How could he possibly know that? So she asked him.  
Duncan knew that they did not have a lot of time. A nurse would be by probably pretty quickly. Luckily this was not a new hospital with all sorts of cameras to monitor the patients. "We do not have much time before someone comes by. You know that what has happened is very extraordinary and would turn you into a freak show at best, and at worse a lab rat, right?"  
Liz gaped at him for speaking to her with words that she had thought just minutes ago.  
"Do you read minds, Mr… What is your name anyway?"  
"My name is Duncan McLeod. And you are now one of us". He stated quietly.  
"One of who?" she asked.

Immortals, she thought later. Duncan had given her a brief rundown on them (on us, she thought dazedly) before he heard a nurse coming and quietly left, telling her to fake unconsciousness for the time being and he would be back once he was sure the nurse was gone. All her logic and knowledge screamed at her that it could not be true, and yet the evidence was right there – or as her case might be- NOT right there. There was no logical reason she could give for what had happened, yet his explanation was only slightly more believable then any of the Roswell crash conspiracies. Instant healing, immortality, the concept was totally out there way beyond anything she had ever imagined. Staying 16 forever was also not something she was looking forward to. Maybe I would feel different if I was 30 or so, but being 16 looking it is not something anyone would want.  
Duncan quietly came back to the ICU. Luckily it was after 10 PM so things were pretty quiet. He knew that he had to help Liz Parker get used to her new situation, but he was conflicted as well. With a little work he knew he could probably help her cover things up and she could continue her life as it was before the shooting. Which was probably best. Its not like Roswell was high up on immortals destinations. He had only been passing through on his way to Houston, and had on a whim decided to go through Roswell out of curiosity. This way she could have time in a settled and familiar environment to start getting ready for the changes in her life. Its not easy for a female immortal to begin with, and with someone so small and slight its going to be very hard for her to defend herself. Luckily she seemed to be pretty fit and careful training over time =assuming she had enough= she should be able to strengthen herself enough to be able to defend herself. And small quick opponents had given him trouble sometimes. He thought that he might be able to get her to the point where she would be able to hold her own with most immortals. Right now it was more important to figure out a way to hide her healing so that she did not have to leave everything she had ever known over night.

By a concentrated effort, Liz had been able to force herself to think about how to cover all this up for the time being. This was going to be tough since no doctor would let her out without examining the wound, and at 16 she was too young to sign herself out without her parents permission. Outside of sneaking out herself, which would really set off alarms and cause more scrutiny, she did not know what to do. Waiting for Duncan to show up (she was startled by how easily she seemed to trust him, this was not something she had ever done before, but then that was small potatoes compared to her situation at the moment) she tried to think of how to do it. Grimly, she decided that the only way was for her to somehow convince her parents to take her out of the hospital. And the only way to do that was to tell them the whole story. Which was going to be fun.

Duncan listened to what Liz had to say. While normally telling anyone NOT an immortal about them was really not a good idea, he had to admit that if she wanted to continue her life here there was not a whole lot of choices. Then he got an idea. Pulling out his cell phone (one of the few times the thing had come in handy, he thought) he dialed a familiar number.

Joe Dawson was just taking a break from singing when the phone rang at his desk in his office in the jazz café/bar he owned in Seacover. "Joes Place, Joe speaking" he answered the phone . "Joe, its Duncan McLeod. I need some help". Joe was surprised. It was not often that Duncan Mcleod ever needed help and even rarer to ask for it. This must be a doozy he thought. "Whats up Duncan?" "I am in Roswell, New Mexico and just found a new immortal. She is only 16 and by pure luck no one knows she died. But she is in the hospital here and we are trying to figure out a way for her to get out of here without raising suspicions. A doctor is going to want to examine her and we know that cannot happen. She is thinking of telling her parents so that they can sign her out without that happening, but that will cause other problems. She has a rare chance here to continue her life as it was for at least a while but we have to act fast. Do you have any ideas?"  
Joe sat back. Talk about rare- a new immortal being able to continue on as before was truly a very unusual situation. He thought for a minute. "What happened?" "She was shot by accident in the café where she works for her parents as a waitress. Purely by accident apparently a new nurse did not hook up the machines that would have let everyone know she died so she died and then revived without anyone noticing. But since she now has no wound to show that would really stir things up."

Joe grimaced. "Yeah that certainly would- and happening in Roswell would make it more crazy then it normally would." Duncan grimaced himself. "Had not thought about that but you are right"  
"Yeah, we have to cover this up for sure. We do not have anyone in Roswell but we do have people in Albuquerque. I will call them and have them head your way. They should be there by early morning. I think the best thing to do is have her transferred out of Roswell= we can do that and make it look like a mixup. The key to it all will be making sure the parents do not raise hell about it. We can hack into the hospital computer and put in a fake transfer order. But its going to be up to you to handle the parents. Keep them from raising the alarm until we have things set up so that they think that while there was a crazy screw up their daughter is ok. We can then arrange for one of our own doctors to take over so no one outside gets a clue."

Duncan thought about Joe's plan. It probably was the best way to go, but it was going to be complicated.  
They had decided to have the people coming down to have an ambulance and do the transfer that night before morning. They would take her to Albuquerque and set it all up there. There was a private clinic there that had some Watcher connections and they should be able to pull it off. Duncan would then have to find a way for the parents to head up to there without anyone else finding out.

James Wilson, Larry Thomas, Cynthia Becker and Roger Hall were the watchers that were going to do the transfer. Hall would be the "doctor" and Becker the nurse, while Thomas and Wilson would be the ambulance attendants. The hospital computer had already been hacked and the fake transfer order was in place. They got to Roswell at 5 AM. The staff was not happy with things happening this early, but the paperwork seemed in order and the patient in question was stabile. The doctors that had treated Liz were not on duty, and neither were the nurses, so there was no trouble there. As they left the hospital parking lot, Duncan waved them down.

Wilson was the driver, and seeing Duncan McLeod walking towards him somewhat shook him up. Coming from a family of watchers that had been in the "business" for over 100 years, this was the first time he had ever met an immortal, let alone one that knew what he did. Joe Dawson's relationship with Duncan McLeod was still very controversial in the Watcher Ranks, though most admited that with the advent of the Hunters some kind of interaction with the Immortals was almost inevitable, and it seemed that it had worked out OK. The entire Watcher community had been horrified by the Hunters, and no effort had been sparred to ferret out any sympathizers. Compared to what they had done, what Joe did was small potatoes and it had resulted in the quick destruction of the Hunters. Most though had felt that after that was over Joe should either have been replaced or forced back into non contact with any immortals. However, the council had decreed that since Duncan McLeod was so highly thought of in the immortal community, that one contact with them was probably in the Watchers best interest. Since it seemed clear that he was not interested in spreading the news, and was not telling anyone new about the watchers, it seemed to be working. Still there was a lot of disagreement in the ranks, though it was hard to tell just which way the majority felt about it. Wilson was conflicted himself, since he prided himself in being able to see both sides of any argument. He could see pros and cons on both sides. And he had to admit a chance to get to know one of the most famous of all immortals was a real thrill, even to someone on the wrong side of 30.  
Duncan had been careful to pick a spot near the hospital but out of site of the entrance, just in case someone was watching. "I need the address of the clinic in Albuquerque, since I know the Parkers are going to want to see Liz today. I will be going down there and be at the Crashdown as soon as it opens, which is in about half an hour. " Wilson nodded and gave him the address. "Are you going to tell them the whole story or what?" "I will play it by ear. I am going to try and not tell them as much as I can, it will depend on what will cause less trouble down the line. They are going to have to know sooner or later since it will be obvious in a couple of years that Liz is not getting any older. Later clearly would be better, but we shall see. I am not going to tell them anything about the Watchers, as far as anyone else knows this is an Immortal operation. Liz does not know about the watchers, and I hope to keep it that way. I promised Joe I would do my best to see that no one else finds out about the Watchers and I keep my promises." Wilson nodded slowly. Duncan McLeod was renowned for keeping his word on anything, and in 400 years it had become literally good as any gold in any bank anywhere.  
Liz opened her eyes once the "nurse" had let her know that the coast was clear. She sat up on the gurney, as the "nurse" took out her IV and unhooked her from the monitors. Liz looked at her and asked "Duncan said he had some people he could call but I did not think that things would happen this fast. You must all either be good friends of his or you owe him big for something. This is not a little thing you are doing."

Cynthia thought about how to approach this potential minefield. Keeping the Watcher name out of it, and making sure that no one not already in the know found out had been very much emphasized from the beginning. So keeping up the pretense that this was all Duncan Mcleod's doing was the order of the day. At the same time it was extremely rare to be able to see how a new immortal reacted, especially one just literally hours old. In the thousands of years the watchers had been around, the number of times they had been in at such an early age of an immortal could be counted on the fingers of one hand. And Liz Parker seemed to be a very mature teenager- considering the way she had so far reacted. Cynthia had no doubt at all that the research section of the Watchers would be VERY interested in all of their reports.

She looked at the young woman (for that is how one had to think of her now-her childhood was over for certain) and decided to take it very slowly and carefully. "Consider us friends of friends. Duncan McLeod currently resides in Seacover, and this is the first time he has been in this part of the country. Needless to say that in 400 plus years he has been pretty much everywhere you can think of on this world, and has met a lot of people who were not immortal. Got to know them, and if they found out he was immortal, quite often getting to know their children and grandchildren and so on. Not to mention that the rare antique business has connections everywhere as well. Being the type of person he is, he tends to end up getting involved anytime something bad goes down and a lot of people end up owing him their lives, and often the lives of their family. That tends to make for pretty heavy duty bonds."  
Liz thought about this. She needed to know more about Duncan Mcleod since it seemed clear he was going to have a heavy influence on her life for some time to come. "I want to know more about Duncan. I know he is a Highland Scot, and I can guess to a certain extent some of his history, but I really would like to know more." She looked at Cynthia expectantly.

Ouch, thought Cynthia. This young woman is pretty sharp and already seems past the shock stage. Going to have to be very careful. Does not help that I really do not know a whole lot about him except what just about every Watcher knows. "Its not just that he is a highland Scot. He was adopted by a very well respected clan Chieftain and for many years was expected to succeed him. Only after his apparent death and so called resurrection was he cast out by his frightened and superstitious clan. His cousin Connor McLeod, almost as famous as Duncan is for being the one that killed the Kurgan, found him and trained him as an immortal. Connor is one who is also deeply Scottish and very much a man of Honor as well. Duncan for quite a while was a soldier in various armies, and has always been something of a Wandering Knight in Shining Armor. Frankly, Liz, you could not have been found by a better Immortal. He will do the very best he can to see to it that you are prepared and trained to survive the Game."

Liz blinked. "The Game? What is the Game?"

Cynthia paled. Duncan had not yet told her about the Game. You dummy, of course he had not told her. Its not like she did not have enough on her plate as it was, and how do you tell someone that you will be forced to fight other immortals with a sword, and will have to cut off their heads to keep your own. Right after all that had already happened to her.

She sighed. "Duncan has not yet told you. Its not really up to me to say much more, but I think I can say this. If there are immortals, and more are apparently coming all the time, then there should be untold thousands and thousands of them and the story of Immortals would have come out long ago or at the very least strong hints and lots of speculation. Yet there are not that many around, really. Why is that and what happens to them?" She looked at Liz expectantly. This will tell us a lot about Liz as a person, and how she reasons and sees things.

Liz thought about this. She is right-clearly immortals are not totally invulnerable- they can die just like anyone else-they just do not stay dead. But clearly from what she says there is a way for them to die permanently. What could that be. What way could be permanent to someone that can heal a bullet wound like I had so quickly. OK, one could be blown to pieces in an explosion or such. BUT that capability has only been around for a few centuries. From what I am hearing and seeing Immortals have been around for thousands of years apparently. What other way for someone to die that would be permanent? Then it came to her- one way. Decapitation. No one can heal that. But what can be the Game? Why does one have to train…. OH. To keep ones head. How would someone take off your head? With a sword. Duncan was wearing a long rain coat and yet it rarely rains here….but a rain coat would be a good way to hide a sword. So I will have to learn how to sword fight to survive…what? Bad immortals? But why would they want to kill me and take my head? The Game? It must be something about that. Is it a game to some immortals to fight and kill others? I can see that but just how many of them would want to do that just to want to? Bad and evil ones OK, but that must be a very small number. Why would others want to do this? A game. Most games have a reason or a prize or something you get if you win. What kind of Prize would THIS game have? Still does not make any sense.

Cynthia watched as Liz worked through the question. She could literally see the wheels turning as Liz reasoned it out. She could tell when Liz figured out the one weakness of Immortals, and she thought that she could tell when Liz figured out what the threat to her was and what she had to train with to protect herself. From the puzzled look that stayed on her face, she could tell that Liz still could not figure out what the Prize was for winning the Game. Of course since Duncan had not told her about the Quickening, Liz was not able to put it all together. Cynthia debated with herself on whether to tell Liz about it. That debate ended with Liz's next question.  
Liz looked at Cynthia and decided to ask her. Maybe she would not tell her, but she could ask.  
"What is the Prize for winning this Game, Cynthia? I am guessing its something pretty big, and there is something about Immortals I do not know and Duncan has yet to tell me. Probably thought it was too much to drop on me all at once. I can see why he would be concerned, but I need to know all the facts if I am going to make good decisions. So please, Cynthia, tell me what Duncan has not."  
Cynthia sat back and thought. OK, maybe I should not but she needs to know so she can make plans and be able to deal with the reality of it all.

"What each immortal has is called the Quickening. It is thought to be what is behind your ability to come back from the dead and to heal wounds so quickly. No one really knows what it is but it is kind of an energy we believe. Its how Duncan could tell that you were about to become immortal. Apparently an older Immortal can just barely sense a pre immortal, but only ones several hundred years old at least and you have to be very close to them. Once you are Immortal, it is much stronger and much more easily detected at a greater distance. You have already experienced what they call the "Buzz" when you first met Duncan as a fellow Immortal. That Buzz is what identifies one immortal to another. And that is the reason behind the Game." Cynthia stopped there to see if Liz could figure out the rest and to see how long it took. She bet with herself that it would not take too long.

Liz absorbed what Cynthia had said and started to think about it. OK that makes sense- a kind of energy would be needed to do all this- and it would have to be pretty powerful. I wonder if it is genetic- it must be. And yet I know that neither of my parents are Immortal. It must be a very recessive Gene that just comes around one out of a hundred thousand or a million or so. Or is it genetic? I would have thought that with all the research in to genes and genetics over the last 30-40 years some hint of this would have come out. If it is not genetic then how? Energy in each of us. That is what the Game is about. If you take the head of an Immortal, the energy flows to you. Does it make you stronger or is it like taking a drug and make you high? Either one would be enough of a reason to make a lot of them want to take your head.  
Liz closed her eyes and shook her head then looked at Cynthia. "That is the Game. One immortal fights another with swords and whoever wins and decapitates the other gets his power, energy, whatever."  
Cynthia was impressed- it had only taken Liz a few minutes to reason it out and come to the correct conclusion. "That is it. It is thought that the last Immortal will have all the energy, all the Quickenings of all the immortals who have ever lived. It is believed that that Immortal will have the power to rule the world. That is what is thought to be the Prize."

Liz dropped her head into her hands and sighed. " I guess in a way it makes sense. For every action there is a reaction. There must be a balance. One cannot have immortals without something balancing it all out. This way you do not have a bunch of immortals banding together to use all the centuries of experience and connections and other abilities to rule the world now. This makes sure that there is no group of immortals, only individuals. "  
Cynthia was even more impressed. That particular theory had been advanced by some of the most respected researchers of the Watchers over the centuries. That Liz could figure that out so quickly spoke well of her ability to reason and her intelligence. Which was a good thing. For someone as physically small as Liz was, she would need every edge to survive the Game.

Duncan walked towards the Crashdown, having waited until the lights came on and it opened. He had been going over in his mind how to approach the Parkers. His promise to Joe to keep the Watchers out of it was not really a problem; it was more on how to get the Parkers to see Liz without them knowing about Immortals. How to get them to see that the transfer as nothing more then a screw up with their insurance. Since the new clinic would be considered a step up from Roswell's Hospital, maybe that would work. Joe seemed to think his hacker could get into the Insurance companies system and make that all look OK. He decided that he would have to act as the Clinics representative and say to the parkers that while it seemed a screwup, it was a relatively harmless one. He then stopped remembering something: the police. They were going to want the bullet- which was still in Liz. That would make them want to go up there as well.  
He pulled out his cell phone and called Joe. "Joe its Duncan. We have gotten Liz to the clinic and I am about to approach the Parkers. I intend to act as the Clinic Rep and explain that it was a insurance screw up but that Liz is fine and the doctor there does not want to move her again anytime soon. BUT I just remembered the bullet which is still in Liz- the police here are going to want it and the clinic needs to get the bullet out of Liz for them so that they do not hang around there for any time or ask too many questions."  
Joe nodded to himself- he should have thought of that as well. " I will call them and let them know. At least it will not be a whole lot of trouble for Liz. She will be healed up before they even leave the operating room. And they know enough to make sure the bullet is bagged and tagged so that there is no trouble with the police."

Duncan put away his phone and headed towards the Crashdown. This early on a Thursday morning there was no line yet at the door. He walked up and went inside. Looking around he noticed that the booth where the two men were and the place where Liz had fallen was marked off with Police tape still. He was a little surprised that they were being allowed to open at all. He approached the counter where the man he guessed was Mr Parker was standing.

Jeff Parker was still trying to get himself together. True, Liz was going to be OK but the whole terrible incident was still bothering him a lot. They had almost lost their little girl and that he knew THAT was going to give him nightmares for a long time to come. He was opening the Crashdown more out of habit then anything else. Jim Valenti had told him that they should be able to remove the police tape that morning but he did not know when. Nancy was still getting the shakes and Claudia was with her to try and get her to calm down completely. He looked up as the door opened and got himself ready to get the day going. Maria would be in early- she was going to take the 6-9 AM shift before going down to the hospital to see Liz. He stopped when he noticed the tall stranger coming towards him. Something about the man got Jeff's attention. Dark haired –a small ponytail-but very athletic looking and he moved with a very definite smoothness.

"Mr Parker?" he said. "Yes, I am. What is it" Jeff really did not have time for tourists or maybe someone who had heard about the incident and was curious. The man certainly did not look like a reporter but you never knew. "My Name is Duncan Mcleod and I am the administrator of the Deming Clinic in Albuquerque." "Yes and what has that to do with me?" He looked a little startled. "The Hospital has not called you?" Jeff tensed. "Is this about my daughter Liz. What is it!" "Your daughter is fine. Apparently the hospital is slow – your daughter was transferred to our clinic just a few hours ago." "What? Why?"  
Jeff was totally in the dark and worried. Why in the world would his daughter have been moved to a clinic that far away. She was supposed to be recovering well right here in Roswell.  
Duncan saw that so far it was working. Now just keep it going, he thought.

"Your insurance company authorized top care for your daughter and the Deming Clinic is one of the best in the country. I think there was a screw up somewhere along the line since from what I could tell she was doing just fine. I was just told about it an hour ago and I happened to be close to Roswell on my way back from a meeting in El Paso where we are looking to build another clinic. I felt it was better to see you in person."  
Jeff was starting to calm down. Liz was OK just an insurance foul up- this time on the good side rather then the bad. But Albuquerque was a pretty far drive for anyone wanting to visit Liz daily. This was going to complicate things greatly. "Well I thank you for coming here personally and I am really ticked off with the Hospital for not telling us about this at all. But what is is what is. No use bellyaching about it. Liz is fine and getting the best care so I really have no reason to complain too much. If you would please come with me I need to tell my wife and my wife's mother about this."  
Duncan followed Jeff Parker up the stairs to the family quarters that were above the Crashdown. So far so good he thought. Now just keep it up and they will not find out about Immortals, Watchers or anything else. That would make Joe happy and take another burden off of Liz.

An hour later Duncan was still optimistic he could keep things quiet, but it was complicated. Keeping the insurance screwup part going he was able to soothe the fears of Liz's mother and grandmother. However in the middle of that the local authorities had shown up in the guise of Sheriff Valenti. He had naturally been somewhat bothered that he had not been told about Liz's transfer. But Duncan was able to reassure him about that as well as the bullet. He told all of them that the Doctors there would wait until they were sure the minor surgery needed to remove the bullet would not set Liz back in her recovery. And that they were well aware of the need to preserve the evidence for the police. They were well known in that city for trauma care and that quite often involved the police for one reason or another. Valenti was not too concerned about the bullet, the witnesses and other evidence plus the mans own statement pretty much had that all taken care of. But the bullet would be needed if the case went to court. But after talking with the local DA, it seemed likely that there would be a plea bargain. The DA agreed with Valenti that the man was going to do some time - they were all lucky that Liz had survived but he was still going to do some hard time no matter what. The only question was how much.

"If none of you have any further questions I am going to head for the Clinic. I should be there in a few hours assuming there are no road problems." Duncan told them. He hoped there would not be any.

Jeff looked at Nancy. One of them would probably have to stay behind to keep the Crashdown open. But then Claudia stepped up. "You two go see Liz. I will stay here and keep an eye on things. Its not that complicated and its not like I did not do it before years ago." Nancy said "Thanks so much mom, it really means a lot to us. We both need to see and talk to Liz." Valenti said "Well as long as the clinic is going to see to it that the bullet will be saved if we need it, I see no reason for bothering Liz any more. We have statements from everyone around and since its all agreed that Liz was unconscious almost right away its not like she would have anything to add."  
Jeff thanked Valenti for helping keep Liz out of it as much as possible. Valenti waved it off" I have known you two for almost 20 years and Liz all her life. It's the least I can do. I still remember you telling me how you came to have Liz in the first place"

Duncan had left and started down the stairs when he heard this. He paused, listening. He knew Liz was a foundling, being immortal, but after all these years he still wanted to know more.  
"Yes, It still amazes me to this day that only a week after learning that Nancy could not have children we find Liz abandoned in the alley next to the Crashdown. The sheriff back then looked for several weeks around Roswell and this part of New Mexico and never found a trace of the mother. The doctor said Liz was at most a day old when we found her. He was really puzzled and I know he kept at it for at least a couple of years but never found anything at all. We of course could have cared less we were just happy to have Liz. She has been nothing but a joy and a great comfort to us her whole life. No one could have asked for a better daughter."  
Duncan nodded to himself and went quietly down the stairs and out to his car. Just like every other immortal he knew of Liz had just appeared. Joe said that in the entire history of the watchers they had never found any trace of any immortals mother. Even in this day and age when it's a lot easier to find people and track them down no mother of any immortal had ever been found. Not even close.

Liz Parker looked around the room that she was in. Pretty plush, she thought. This place has to cost a fortune. This is a lot to do for a friend, especially with all the possible complications. She knew she was thinking about that to take her mind off of the Game and all its ramifications. And being immortal and not aging. She wondered how long she could stay in Roswell before people started noticing she was not aging. Going to college would help; changing hair does and things like that would work for a while. But no matter what she did it would not last long. She was going to look like a teenager for ever – or for how long she could keep her head- literally and figuratively. She doubted she could ever make herself look any older then her early 20's at best. Which meant that wherever she went she would have to start off at 18 and then leave by 22 or 23. Maybe a couple of more years if she was lucky. But any way you looked at it it meant leaving every 5-7 years. For whoever knew how long.

Doctor Tim Levins had been part of a watchers family all his life. He had found out by accident in his early 20's about immortals. He had been part of the Watchers from that point on. Now 53, he had seen a fair amount but had never had an immortal in his clinic- especially one this young. Watching an immortal could sometimes be hazardous to your health, and he had patched up more then a few watchers over the years. But this situation was very different-he had an immortal as a patient. He had to operate on one to get a bullet out so that the local Roswell Police did not get suspicious. And he had to make sure that Liz Parker in no way shape or form suspected anything about the Watchers. Luckily it appeared that she figured everyone here knew about immortals-and that only because of Duncan McLeod- who had just called letting him know that her parents were on the way. He had decided to operate and get the bullet right away just in case. As far as anyone could determine, anesthesia worked on immortals as it did anyone else-the patients just came out of it quicker then normal people did. Which since the incision would heal up probably before he even got his operating gown and gloves off really did not matter much.

Liz looked up as someone came into her room. He was average height, brown haired, looked to be in his forties or fifties. She figured he was a doctor-maybe the one who would be operating on her to get the bullet out. She was right.  
Dr Levins looked at his patient. Young and pretty- very young and rather small of stature. But you could see the intelligence burning in her eyes. No fool here-she was pretty sharp. She showed that right away.  
"I take it that you are a doctor- probably the one who will be getting the bullet out of me. And you know of my special condition, right?" Liz saw no reason to beat about the bush.  
Dr Levins grinned at her. "Right on all accounts. I have just heard from Duncan that your parents are on their way and will be here in 2-3 hours. I figure to have the bullet out of you before they get here. SO I intend to operate in the next hour. Yes I know that you are immortal- everyone who will have contact with you is in the know. We just do not speak about it. Being immortal we do not have to take all the precautions for regular patients. We put you under, get the bullet out, and do not even bother to sew you up since you will heal without a scar before we could do that anyway."

Liz nodded slowly. Pretty much as she had figured. Not that she was looking forward to it but it had to be done. "Did Duncan say if he had been able to keep from telling my parents about me being Immortal?" This was pretty important.  
Dr Levins nodded. "He said they had bought the insurance mistake line and that so far nothing look like it would change. You do know that you are going to have to be careful for a couple of weeks to make sure no one suspects anything, right?"  
Liz grimaced. "Yes, I know. I have been thinking about it. I am figuring that I will be here only a few days, at most a week, then go home and have to bed rest for a couple of days before I can start moving around. And then I will have to go slow for a while after that. What I am also thinking is that I am going to need some Hollywood makeup or something to fake a scar- because everyone is going to want to see it and I am guessing that having something to show will go a long way in making sure no one asks any awkward questions. Give people what they expect to see and you usually have no problems."

Dr Levins was impressed. He had not thought about that and no one else had either but it was a very good idea and made a lot of sense. "I will get ahold of someone I know who works in the entertainment industry. He should know who we can call to get something like that. We can get that done before you leave here. That would indeed distract a lot of people who just might think up some awkward questions."  
At that point two nurses and an orderly came into the room. Dr Levins nodded to them and said to Liz. "They will be prepping you now- nowhere near as much as for regular patients but enough to get the job done here."  
An hour and a half later Dr Levins was taking off his mask and gown and gloves in the post surgery room off of the main surgery theatre. He looked at his scrub nurse who was probably as shook up as he was. That had been the most incredible experience he had ever been through in more than 25 years as a surgeon. Things had been pretty normal at the beginning. Liz was under and seemed to be doing quite well. He had thought that it would be pretty relaxing operating on someone that had no possibility at all of dying on the table-at least not permanently. Since every surgeon knew that something could happen no matter how minor the surgery or how strong the patient nor how good the surgeon-something could go wrong and he could lose the patient. Not possible here. But other things could happen that would make the surgery a lot more "interesting" then anyone would like.

They had taken X Rays to see where the bullet was- just below the renal artery- which probably explained how she had died- the bullet had moved and nicked the artery and she had bled out. A minor incision-no longer then a few inches- pull the bullet and let her healing kick in. What they had not known-though thinking about it later they should have-was that from the moment he cut her her healing would try and close the wound. He was literally having the scrub nurse keep the incision open while he quickly tried to get the bullet out. The blue sparks of her healing was trying to close the wound right around his hand. It had only taken 10 minutes to do it but it was the longest 10 minutes he had ever spent in an operating theatre. And to top it all off only five minutes after the anesthesia was removed Liz had started to regain consciousness. By far and away the most bizarre operation he had ever been part of.

Duncan walked into the Deming Clinic looking for Dr Levins. He knew he had only about an hour before the Parkers showed up and he wanted to make sure they were all ready and all on the same page. The clinic was a one story, somewhat sprawling complex. It reaked of money by being subtle and reserved, which is always a sign of serious cash in clinics. He was not surprised; one thing he knew for sure was that the Watchers had plenty of money. He had wondered how they got it; but figured that since many immortals were very well off after hundreds of years it figured that the Watchers Society which was thousands of years old would be rolling in it.

Dr Levins had just finished cleaning up after the surgery and was heading towards his office, wondering how to write this particular surgery up. The clinic made it clear that they needed good written reports on all surgeries just in case an outside organization got curious. BUT they also made it VERY clear that anything mentioning Immortals or Watchers was kept separate and secret. There would need to be a report for the Roswell Police, and there would need to be another for the Watchers. Considering how few times an immortal had been operated on by anyone who KNEW about immortals, that report on Liz Parker would certainly make the rounds in the upper levels of the Society and especially in the research area. Walking down the corridor he spotted what had to be Duncan McLeod coming towards him. He looked past McLeod to see if the Parkers were with him; not seeing them he looked at Duncan who shook his head.

"They are about an hour behind me. So far so good on the cover story; they do not appear to suspect anything other then a paper work blunder. Their concern for their daughter is much more immediate. I am guessing that you have already removed the bullet?" Duncan asked.  
"Just finished up about half an hour ago. Operating on an Immortal is truly a different experience; I had all I could do to get the bullet out before her healing trapped my hand in her stomach. Less then 5 minutes after the anesthetic was stopped she was regaining consciousness. Despite all the reports and all the years it still shocked and astounded me to watch it happen. "

Thoughtfully Duncan nodded. He was somewhat surprised at the speed of which Liz's immortality was working. Thinking about it, she had revived very quickly after her first death. It usually took anywhere from 12-18 hours to happen; with Liz it had been just a couple. Duncan had had some experience seeing Immortals operated on over the centuries; what the doctor had described would have been more expected with a much older immortal with a fair amount of quickening. Not a newbie with none. Liz Parker was more and more looking like a very special immortal.  
"I am expecting the Sheriff to stop by sometime today as well. As long as the bullet is out and the Parkers seem ok I doubt he will ask any questions. He is a family friend and is more concerned with making sure they are OK then he is about the case; especially since it appears that there will be no trial but just a plea bargain."

That relieved Dr Levins. He had been a little worried about official involvement; the Parkers were much less of a concern. If they could muddle on through today it should be fairly simple after that. As long as Liz could keep up the masquerade as regards her "healing". That reminded him; he had to make that call to his friend in Hollywood as regards the fake scar that Liz would need to occasionally show. With an hour until the Parkers arrived they had time to make sure everything was set up to lull any suspicions they might have.  
Liz was back in her room and already getting antsy. She had already healed up from the incision and the bullet was out; she would not need to worry about possibly setting off an airport scanner now. She figured her parents would be here fairly soon and wanted to be sure that nothing around her would cause them to ask any awkward questions. Actually she was more concerned when Maria and Alex came to visit, which she figured would also be today as well. Maria was going to want a lot of details and Alex was a pretty observant guy; he was more likely than anyone to pick up on any undercurrents or notice something that did not fit in.

Max Evans was sitting in his jeep outside the hospital with Michael. He had just come back from there hoping to see Liz when he had been told she had been transferred to a clinic in Albuquerque. Despite their assurance that Liz was OK, he was worried. Michael on the other hand was impatient to be away from here; hospitals gave him the willies since he knew that in that place they could possibly be found out.  
"Come on Max lets get out of here; we don't want to get any attention remember?" Michael pushed.  
"I am still worried about Liz; if she was doing OK there would be no reason to transfer her; especially such a short time after it all happened." Max was seriously thinking about heading for Albuquerque.  
"I know you Max you are thinking about going there. Well Don't. That would really get some attention, especially since you are not her boyfriend or family." Michael always felt like he was swimming against the current when trying to talk Max out of doing something. Max was just so stubborn sometimes, though Michael was totally oblivious to the irony there.  
"I know I Know, its not the thing to do. Its just that its Liz and I am worried. I don't think I was able to do anything, so there is no telling how much damage the bullet did." Max was worried that some complications had set in and that was why Liz had been transferred.  
"There is nothing you can do Max, so lets get out of here NOW." Michael demanded.  
Sighing and shaking his head, Max started the jeep.

Maria was trying to cope with the unexpectedly heavy business the Crashdown was having this morning. Everyone was curious and wanted to know what had happened and how was Liz. Maria was getting tired of repeating herself. Luckily Claudia was taking care of most of the details of running the Crashdown while Maria and Jose the cook just moved the food. She was glad to see Alex come in so that she could vent in the break area.  
"I tell you Alex if one more local moron comes in asking about what happened I am gonna dump his order right on his head and then break a plate him as well." Maria ranted.  
Recognizing that a MOUNT ST. MARIA eruption was imminent, Alex tried to head it off. "Maria, calm down. Liz is a very popular person here in Roswell and of course a lot of people are concerned. Yes I know some of them are being hypocrites about it but that is the way they are. Blowing up and busting plates is not going to help anything. Just cause more trouble."  
Maria reached for her bottle of oil and took a deep sniff. That seemed to calm her down a little.  
"I know Alex but I am worried about my best friend who got SHOT here less then a day ago and yet I have to be polite and in control with all these idiots. There is just so much I can take before I go off on one of them."  
"Just try and remember that it will not help anything and take a break when you get too close to going off. Besides as soon as your shift ends we will head up to Albuquerque to see Liz and that way you can see for yourself. I have already checked out that clinic and its one of the best trauma care facilities in this part of the country. They will take good care of Liz there, you know that" Alex was relieved that MT ST MARIA seemed to have become somewhat dormant.  
"10 o'clock cannot come soon enough for me. I need to see Liz for myself." Maria was cooling off some.  
"Won't get any argument from me. I need to see Liz as well." Alex was concerned about the transfer, but if Maria was right about what Mr Parker had said about an insurance screw up, then there might not have been any medical reason at all for the transfer. And the clinic was one of the best around to handle any complications that might come up.

Jeff Parker was relieved when he pulled into the parking lot of the clinic. It was not an easy drive from Roswell, much of the road was only 2 lane. He did not look forward to doing this very often. Not to mention it had taken almost 3 hrs due to some rain and road construction. They just would not be able to do this every day, just no way. It would be the same for her friends in Roswell, this would not be a trip they could take very often. Maybe if they could get together and agree on alternate days or something.  
Nancy Parker was on pins and needles waiting for Jeff to park the vehicle so that she could get out and see her child. She had been out getting supplies when the shooting had occurred. By the time she had gotten back and had seen the Sheriff's vehicle with the lights flashing and the crowd out front, Liz was already on her way to the hospital. She had only gotten a brief glimpse of her in the ICU. And then that stupid insurance transfer and suddenly she was over a hundred miles away.

Dr Levins was in his office working on the Watchers part of the report on Liz Parker when he got the call that the Parkers were here. He put the unfinished report in his safe and locked it. He knew that Duncan McLeod had already been told. With McLeod acting as the Clinic Director, and himself as the Doctor of Record, no one else really needed to talk to the Parkers. They had agreed to let Duncan do most of the talking.  
Duncan got up out of the chair behind the desk of his "Office" (they had managed to get a nameplate made up in time and it was in place) and walked out to the corridor where a nurse was leading the Parkers his way. He had decided to take them right to Liz, as that would put them more at ease and give them less of a chance to ask any awkward questions. He knew that Dr Levins would be notified and would be on his way in the same direction. Liz had gotten the word at the same time as Dr Levins and Duncan had. She had been rehearsing in her mind what to say. She made sure she was sitting up in bed but trying to not look like she had no injury at all would be the key. She knew that she would have to move slow and not in any way make anyone suspicious of her condition.

"Jeff, Nancy, welcome to Deming Clinic. This is Dr Levins, who is Liz's primary doctor. I will let him brief you on your daughters condition while we walk to her room." Duncan wanted to keep them moving right to Liz's room to make sure they did not see anything else that might make them curious.  
"Mr and Mrs Parker, I am glad to tell you that your daughter is doing quite well. We did a minor procedure to take care of some residual bleeding an hour ago and at that time I was able to get the bullet out. So Liz should not have to undergo any more operations. I see no reason why she should not be out of here in a week or maybe less depending on how fast she heals the incisions. At this time I see no complications and her recovery is textbook all the way. The bullet did relatively little damage and most of that was repaired in the original operation at Roswell. We finished it off here." Dr Levins could see that they were quite relieved and starting to relax. He then looked at Duncan who took the signal to take over.

"Jeff, Nancy as you can see things are going quite well as regards Liz's condition. As regards the original paperwork blunder that got her here, the insurance company has already admitted that they were at fault. There will be no charge to your account for the time that Liz is here. There really was nothing else they could do. To try and send Liz back would be contrary to clinic guidelines and they would get into serious trouble if they tried to force it. They are just going to have to eat it." Duncan had already talked to Joe and they would make sure the insurance company never knew of any of this. Actually that part of the whole situation was easiest of all to take care of due to the skill of the Watchers Hacker.  
Jeff did not really care about any of this, though he could understand why Duncan was explaining it to them. Nothing really mattered except that Liz was going to be OK.  
Nancy really had not listened at all to what Duncan had to say about the insurance. Dr Levins words had tremendously relieved her mind and she now just wanted to see Liz.

As they walked into Liz's room both Duncan and Dr Levins looked at her to see how she was reacting and her general demeanor. How she acted in the next few minutes could go a long way to relieving Jeff and Nancy and settling down the whole scenario. Liz was sitting up in bed watching TV. She looked up at her parents and smiled, carefully starting to straighten up when Nancy sat on the edge of her bed and stopped her. "Oh, Liz, please just rest there. That is the best way to heal up and we do not want you to pull any of your stitches." Jeff was right next to her and echoing Nancy's statement. "Just rest there honey and do not try and do too much. "  
Duncan and Dr Levins looked at each and relaxed. Liz had done exactly the right thing. Jeff and Nancy had settled right into parental mode and were totally engrossed in making sure Liz rested. Any suspicions or probing questions they might have had had gone right out the window. If they could keep this up it would be smooth sailing.  
Liz knew that she had done the right thing when she saw both Dr Levins and Duncan relax. Now she just had to keep it up.

"Mom, Dad, I feel pretty good all things considering. From what Dr Levins said I could be out of here and back in Roswell in a week. After that I should only need another week or so before I can go back to work."  
Jeff shook his head. "Honey, just sit back and heal and let us worry about it. Maybe in a week you can be back at home but you will be taking it easy for quite a while. You got shot in the stomach= you almost died. I do not want to hear any more about you going back to work for quite a while."  
Nancy chimed right in. "Elisabeth Parker, this is one time where you are going to be patient and just let things go. You are not going back to work until you are completely healed and that is that." Liz grimaced a little at Nancy's words. When her mother used her whole first name and last name then she was really on it. But at the same time she was glad to see that they were already thinking about her leaving here and going back to Roswell. That meant they were much less likely to cause any other problems.  
Duncan grinned at Nancy's words. He should have known that someone as sharp and smart as Liz would be well able to handle her parents. She had already gotten them to be thinking about Liz being home and healing up-so any possible problems had pretty much been sunk at harbor.  
Dr Levins was also glad to hear the way the parents were talking to Liz. She already had them fixated on her being home and keeping her from jumping back to work. That meant they would be much less likely to have any suspicions about how fast Liz was healing as long as Liz did not over do it.

Maria had borrowed her mothers car and she and Alex were on their way to Albuquerque by 11 o'clock. They figured they would be there before 2. That would give them at least a couple of hours to visit with Liz before they had to go back. Liz was feeling a little frazzled after her parents left. She figured that so far everything was going about as well as one could expect. She had made sure that she had gotten Duncans attention so that they could talk after her parents left. She had a lot of questions to ask about the "Game".  
Dr Levins escorted the Parkers out, leaving Duncan nearby so that he could go back to Liz's room for a talk. He was willing to bet that Liz had a bunch of questions for Duncan. Luckily the watchers had taken precautions when building the clinic so that every room had monitoring devices carefully hidden. What ever Duncan had to say to Liz they would hear. It would be very interesting to listen to and it would go a long way into starting the file on Liz Parker. It might also shed some light on Duncan McLeod, even though he had one of the thickest files of any Immortal anyway due to Joe Dawsons work.

Duncan walked back into Liz's room. He figured he would be there for a while. Liz was going to be asking a lot of questions that would not have easy answers.  
Liz had not wanted to take a chance and write down any questions, but she had several right in mind for Duncan when he came into her room.  
"Cynthia filled me in on some things during the ride here. Mostly they just caused me to have other questions either she could or would not tell me the answers to them. So here is the first one: what is the GAME?" Liz saw no reason to beat around the bush.  
Duncan shook his head. He knew he was going to have to get to the game, but he would have rather waited.  
"What did she tell you" as he tried to figure out how to say it to a very young woman.  
Liz sighed. Pretty much as she thought. He was trying to protect her and go slow. Well sorry Duncan Mcleod but that does not wash here.  
"She told me that the Quickening is what they think is behind our immortality. It's a kind of energy that is responsible for our healing and coming back from the dead. She got me thinking on just how a immortal could die for good, and why there were not thousands of them around if they were immortal. Its not hard to figure out that decapitation is the only way. Then it was not hard to figure out that maybe by taking the head of one immortal the other would gain power in some way. Which then explains the Game. Swordfighting one on one with the winner getting the others Quickening. BUT I know there has to be more to it then that. And its time you told me." There. Lets see how he reacts to that. Though I wonder just how the quickening can prevent loss of brain function or memory- if for hours its without oxygen then cells should start to die. Especially the first time.

Duncan slowly shook his head. Liz had most of the story but not the whole thing.  
"There is a legend that is thousands of years old. Who knows how old. That when there are only a few immortals left they will feel the pull towards a far off land and then the Gathering will happen. Those who are left will fight until only one remains. He or she will get the "Prize". That one will get all the quickenings that have ever been; enough power to rule the world."  
Liz's head was whirling. Power to rule the world. All the quickenings that have ever been. As always with Liz, facts or figures or something that does not fit in always caught her attention.  
"Wait a minute. ALL the quickenings that have ever been. How can that be? That would mean that no immortal was ever caught in a landslide or fell down a crevice or was trapped in a ship sunk to the bottom of the sea and could not get out. Literally hundreds, maybe more must have had that happen to them over the thousands of years that immortals have been around. So how could one person get them all?"

Duncan smiled. Liz was asking a question he had had over the years. What did happen to the quickenings of immortals that did not go to another?  
" I have wondered the same over the years. It's a big hole in the Gathering legend, that is for sure. I think that anyone who has ever asked that question must wonder. One could speculate that maybe after a certain period of time that quickening just fades away. No one knows. Still most due play the "Game" though I know for some its more of a way to pass time then it is for actually thinking about winning the prize. Of course the evil ones just do it because they would anyway. Some have tried elaborate plans to try and win the prize but so far none of that has worked at all. There are rules to the game."  
Liz was skeptical. "Rules? Really?"  
"Yes. All combat must be one on one. That is usually the way it goes, though some have tried to cheat in one way or another; but its fairly well followed. Sword to sword, though once again some try to cheat but not often. There is one rule that all Immortals follow though."  
Now Liz was interested. "Which one is that?"  
"There will be no battles on sacred ground. And that means sacred to any religion anywhere."  
"Why is that one followed by even the evil Immortals?"  
"Because legend has it that two immortals fought near Mt Pompeii on sacred ground and that was when the mountain erupted."  
Liz blinked. "Legend?"  
Duncan nodded. "Legend or not that is the one rule that no immortal has broken since."

Max Evans was really trying to not go right to the Crashdown and ask about Liz. But it was hard; he had absolutely no idea how she was doing in the clinic. He had looked in but had not seen Maria and she was the only one he thought he could ask. More and more he wanted to just jump into the jeep and head for Albuquerque. He had to find out about Liz.

Liz was still thinking about Pompeii-not fighting on sacred ground. Could that possibly be true? That would mean that something else was involved beyond the Quickenings or Immortals. TO make a Mountain Erupt meant something- or SOMEONE else was involved.  
Duncan could see that Liz was sidetracked by the whole not fighting on sacred ground and Pompeii thing. He sighed. Yes that was interesting but not really important.

"Liz, listen to me. You are going to have to train very hard to defend yourself. Being small and a woman, many Immortals will think you are an easy mark. I believe that I can train you to defend yourself well, but it will take time and a lot of effort on your part. First you are going to have to get stronger; a lot stronger. Then you are going to train on using a sword and on how to fight hand to hand. The martial arts knowledge I have acquired over time has saved my head many times."  
Liz slowly nodded. Duncan was right-the whole sacred ground/Pompeii part really appealed to the scientist in Liz, but it was not important to Liz Parker, Immortal.  
"OK, I get it. Get stronger and train to use a sword to cut someones head off. Got it."  
Duncan shook his head. I guess there is some snark in that quiet demeanor after all.  
"That is the short version, yes. Will be a lot harder to do then to say it. First thing to do when you can is to start wearing wrist and ankle weights. They can rather easily be hidden and they help you to get stronger fairly quickly. ONCE you are stronger we will start training with training swords which are wooden. In the meantime I will be looking for a sword for you. It must be fairly light but strong enough to stand up to the biggest swords you might face."  
Liz was now thinking about all this. "How are you going to be able to train me? From all appearances you are a director of a medical clinic in Albuquerque. "  
Duncan had been thinking about that. "I told your parents I happened to be passing through Roswell because we were thinking of opening up a clinic in El Paso. I think I can arrange to get one going there and use it as a cover for training you. It will only be a temporary thing anyway."

Liz was curious about that. "Its not like I do not appreciate all you are doing for me, but why are you going to all this trouble and expense just for me?"  
Duncan stood up and walked towards the window.  
Liz sensed that something big was behind all of this and why Duncan was the way he was.  
"I was thrown out of my clan after I came back from my first death. Connor took me in and taught me everything as an Immortal. I was raised as a Clan Chieftains son, to one day take over the clan and lead it and take care of my people. I guess that has never left me. And I have seen what happens to new immortals that are not as fortunate as I was. I have always felt it was my duty to see to it that each new immortal I came across had as much support and training as I did. "

Liz was thoughtful. She had a suspicion that there was more to it then that but decided not to push it. Time for that later.  
The door opened and a nurse poked her head in. " Miss Parker, some friends of yours are hear to see you. Are you ready for them?"  
Liz looked at her and nodded. She then looked at Duncan and said "Probably best if they do not see you. The fewer people that do the better."  
Duncan was once again reminded that Liz Parker was no dummy. "I will be back after they are gone. We still have a lot to go over."

Maria came in like a bowling ball looking for pins to knock over. "LIZ!. You look great for someone who was almost dead yesterday!"  
Alex came in behind her, shaking his head while closing the door.  
"Great way to start out Maria."  
If you only knew thought Liz. "Come on Alex, there is no way we should expect anything different from Maria."  
"Come on chicka, dish the dirt. What was it like being gut shot?"  
"Maria!" came from both Liz and Alex.  
"Come on you two. This is the way I am like it or lump it."  
"OK I hardly felt much beyond the initial hit and falling on to the floor. I was out pretty much right away. Did not know much until after I was awake in the ICU at Roswell Hospital. Which by the way is a lot less luxurious then this clinic is."

Alex was curious about that. "Liz, your father said it was a mix up by the insurance company – but that sounds kind of strange."  
Liz was now a little worried. Leave it to Alex to start down a road that she wanted no one on.  
"Well, from what I gathered the initial inquiry from the hospital about health insurance after I was admitted appears to have activated a glitch in the insurance companies computer and somehow it decided that I needed to be in a clinic instead of a hospital. The director here said the Insurance Company was stuck once I was here due to the class of trauma I was under. They could not move me without violating procedures and that would look bad for them. So they basically just have to take it and not much else they can do."  
Maria could care less about that. "Enough of insurance companies and computers-they bore me. How do you really feel chicka- and no Liz Parker BS. How do you REALLY feel?"

Liz smiled at Maria. Leave it to her to cut to the quick. And also that would ensure that Alex could not go any farther down the forbidden road.  
"Pretty good actually. I was real lucky in that the bullet did not do much damage- where it hit was not a bad place to go as regards getting "gut shot"."  
Alex was more interested in her recovery time frame. "How long are you going to be here, Liz; do you know? And after here how long will you have to take it easy?"  
"Probably here less than a week. Then home and bed rest or something close to it for a few more days then I can start moving around more. Probably at least two weeks or so before I can think of going back to work. Guess I am lucky its summer- would not want to miss that much of school."  
Maria dramatically sighed. "Only you would be worried about school only a day after you nearly died."  
Liz snarked right back at her "That's me Maria- like it or lump it!"  
"No fair using my own comeback!"  
"Tough"  
The three close friends grinned at each other.

Sheriff Valenti parked outside the Clinic. He looked over at Kyle who was clearly anxious to see Liz.  
"Calm down, Kyle. Liz is ok."  
"I guess I cannot really accept that until I see her with my own eyes. This business of moving her here really sounded fishy"  
"it was just a paper work or computer screw up at the insurance company. It had nothing to do with Liz's condition."  
"I still want to see her"  
"Well you will in just a few minutes if you can control yourself. You go charging in there wild eyed and you will not see her at all. You will get tossed out on your can."  
"Ok, Dad, ok"

Dr Levins was surprised the Roswell Sheriff had come himself, but then he remembered that Duncan had said he was a friend of the family. Now why his son had come with him he wondered until he talked to him. Boy friend, eh? Liz Parker certainly had more than a few people who really worried about her. Kyle opened the door of Liz's room to find Alex and Maria there with Liz talking and acting like nothing had happened.  
"Liz- are you ok? Should you be up like this?  
Liz rolled her eyes.  
"Well hello to you too Kyle. I feel pretty good all things considered and the doctor has already been in to see me today so YES I can be up like this."  
Alex and Maria grinned while Kyle reddened.

"Sorry Liz but I have been so worried about you."  
"Well you can stop now. I am going to be fine. Hopefully out of here and back in Roswell by the end of the week."  
Maria nudged Alex who gave her a confused glance. She nodded towards the door. He blinked then nodded himself.  
"Maria and I better head on back. It took us almost 3 hrs to get here."  
Liz smiled at them. "I was happy to see you guys. BUT there is no point in you trucking all the way out to here again. I will be home in a few days."  
Liz was relieved when Kyle finally left, dragged out by his father who told him he had to get back to Roswell. She was pretty much sure that when she got back she was going to let Kyle know that they just were not going to make it as a couple. She had kind of thought so before the shooting, now she knew. Not to mention her very changed condition. Her eyes widened. Children. Could Immortals have children? If so, that would mean outliving your children, seeing them grow old while you were unchanged. She had a sinking feeling that immortals could not have children. It only made sense. Nature liked balance and that would really upset it.

Duncan had waited until Valenti and his son had left before coming out of his "office". He had talked to Levins about his idea of opening a clinic in El Paso so that he could train Liz. Levins had pointed out how far away that was. After looking at a map Duncan could see that he was right. Levins suggested opening one in Roswell. It was steadily growing and a clinic might even turn a profit. Duncan walked into Liz's room to find her staring at the wall with a very thoughtful look on her face. She turned to him and he saw that something had really thrown her.  
"What is it Liz. Did your boyfriend upset you?"  
"Kyle? No. And probably soon to be ex boyfriend."  
"Oh, did you have a fight or something?"  
"No, I just realized over the last day that we were not working out anyway. Add to that my very changed condition and I think its time I let Kyle go."  
"I am sorry."  
"Don't be. Its no big deal. What is a big deal is a question I have to ask you."  
"Fire away Liz I will tell you whatever you need to know about immortals."  
"Can immortals have children?"

Duncan dropped his head. He had hoped to wait to tell Liz that. He had had a feeling that that particular bit of information would be more devastating to her then anything else he had said. He raised his head to tell her when she held up her hand.  
"No need to say anything Duncan. Just by the way you just acted the answer is no. Which is pretty much what I figured since it would not be logical for them to have that ability. I am not saying it does not hurt since I always intended to have children but what is is what is. Besides the thought of having children, watching them grow old and die while you did not would be pretty terrible."

Duncan knew that Liz was putting on a brave face; he could tell that not being able to have children really had hurt her. Just like it had always been with him and many other immortals. Well, time to get her mind off of that and onto something else.  
"After talking to Dr Levins and looking at a map I can see that El Paso is just too far away. So instead I am looking at opening the clinic in Roswell instead."  
Liz had been trying to get her mind off of not having children which had indeed shaken her to her core. Knowing what Duncan was trying to do she welcomed the change in subject. This would certainly make it easier to train.  
"There are more then a few empty buildings in Roswell. One of them should do quite well as a clinic. I can do some checking with some friends if you want. I can guess that you want one with a fairly large room somewhere that can be converted into a gym that we can train in, right?"  
Duncan shook his head again. Liz was very quick. She saw things pretty clearly that most would miss. Overall that would be a good thing-she would need every edge she could get to survive the game.  
"You probably should not get involved. We have to make it look like we barely know each other. Otherwise people will get suspicious and start asking questions. For immortals that is a real no no."  
Liz nodded. That made sense. "OK I can see your point."  
"It should not take me too long to get it set up. Probably only a couple of months. In the meantime you can be training to increase your strength and endurance. You will need all you can get if you want to survive the Game"  
Liz shivered. There it was again-talking about survival-which meant fighting and killing. She realized on an intellectual level that it would be necessary= but knowing that in your head and knowing that in your heart was two different things.

Duncan saw her reaction and correctly guessed what was on her mind. He knew he had to drive this point home so that Liz really grasped it and accepted it.  
"Liz you know that you are going to have to face people with a sword in your hand and fight them to the death and take their heads or lose your own. But you are going to have to accept that in your heart and in your soul. Its never easy and many new immortals end up hesitating during their first challenge and lose their heads. You have to be able to kill to survive. There is no other way."  
Liz dropped her head for a moment. Then slowly raised it. "There are no other alternatives I take it"  
"Well, you can join a convent and stay there. That is about the only other way. Some have done that and have stayed out of the game for centuries." Liz grimaced. "No way could I stand that. I would go insane inside of a year."  
Duncan nodded. "Most who choose that route do not last. Probably for the same reason."  
Liz straightened up and squared her shoulders. A determined glint came into her eyes.  
"OK, if that is the way it has to be, then that is the way I will be. Fight and survive. I am not going to be an easy mark for anyone. Whoever gets my head is going to know what it meant to fight to the death."  
Duncan felt better hearing her and seeing the change in her bearing. She had decided to do what had to be done to survive. That was the first real critical step on what was going to be a long road indeed.

Max Evans went into the Crashdown early on the morning 2 days after the shooting. He knew that Maria and Alex had gone to see Liz the previous day. He was desperate for word on her even though he knew that she was probably OK. As he sat down in his usual booth, from which he could see the serving counter and was thus able to watch Liz all the time, Maria spotted him and headed over.  
"Before you even ask, Liz is fine and expects to be back home by the end of the week. There were no complications and even the doctor admits that there is really no reason to keep her any longer. The only reason she is there is a mix up by the Insurance Company. There really was nothing else."  
Max closed his eyes for a moment, slumping in relief. In his head he had pretty much already known this, but it was his heart that had caused all the worry. He looked up at Maria.  
"Thanks a lot Maria, my head was telling me things were OK but my heart was arguing."  
Maria smiled at him. She liked Max and personally thought he was a better match for Liz then Kyle could ever hope to be. He was smart and quiet and very determined in his own way, which made him a match for a very smart, determined and fairly quiet Liz. She pondered for a moment, Liz had told her that she was probably breaking up with Kyle and she wondered if she should give Max a hint. Seeing the way he slumped back and closed his eyes when told Liz was fine and would soon be back decided her.  
"Keep this quiet, Max, BUT I can tell you that Liz is probably going to give Kyle the heave ho pretty soon. Which means that she will be free to see anyone she wants to. So if you are ever going to make a play, its gonna have to be soon. Nothing ventured, nothing gained."  
Max blinked and his mouth hung open for a minute. He looked hard at Maria to see if she was joking or putting him on.  
Maria shook her head. "Max sometimes you can over think something. This is not a time to think, it's a time to act."  
Max slowly nodded. "Could you give me a hint or a sign or something when it happens?"  
Maria grinned at him. "Sure thing. As soon as she drop kicks him out the door I will let you know."

Liz Parker was getting seriously bored. Once Duncan had left, there was really nothing else to do. She got out of the bed and wandered around the clinic, but that got old fairly soon. Daytime TV was incredibly boring. She had gone through all the magazines and anything else to read the clinic had. So getting desperate she went in to see Dr Levins.  
Dr Levins had finally finished his report to the Watchers as regards Liz Parkers operation. He shook his head at it. Talk about science fiction being stranger then real life pretty much took it in the shorts when immortals are involved, he thought. At least it appeared that there would be no questions as regards the transfer or really anything else. So it looked like Liz Parker would be able to continue her life as it had been at least for a while. Duncan had been in again to talk to him about getting a clinic started in Roswell. He really wanted to get that moving. Dr Levins had been looking at some possibilities that he had seen in the Roswell paper he had gotten. Getting a building looked like it would not be all that much of a problem (though finding one that could house a training room was a little tougher). Finding people to staff it would not be all that hard; he actually had more people then were really needed here so some of the slots could be quickly filled. And some queries into the Watchers HQ had shown that it should not be much of a problem to fill the rest with Watchers or members of Watcher families in the know. He looked up at the knock on his door and said "Come in". He was not surprised that it was Liz. He had a hunch she was rapidly getting bored.

"Dr Levins, I am getting totally bored and antsy. Is there any way I can start doing some of the training that Duncan wants me to do here? I know you have a physical therapy room."  
Dr Levins sat back and thought for a moment. Its not like they really had to worry about anyone finding out something they shouldn't. Every employee here was either a Watcher or a member of a Watcher's family that knew about immortals. Added to that was the chance to watch the beginning of a New Immortals training under Duncan Mcleod. "I see no reason why not, Liz. If someone comes in wanting to see you we can delay them long enough for you to get back to your room. And I know you had to be getting really bored. You certainly are not the kind of person who likes soap operas."  
Liz beamed at him. "Those things totally disgust me. How anyone with a brain can actually like them is beyond me. Duncan wants me to start building up my strength and endurance; he mentioned using wrist and ankle weights. I can also use a treadmill to work on my wind. I have never really done much working out ever, so this is all totally new to me."  
Dr Levins nodded. That was not surprising; her time as a waitress in her parents café would tire out most people even wanting to do any more physical training. And Liz struck him as someone that really did not have much interest in sports, let alone participating in one. "I will let James Wilson know, he is our physical therapist. Now he is more into helping people recover rather then helping already healthy people train, but he knows the basics and knows how to see if someone is over doing it. Though with you that really does not matter since any injury will heal before you can really even get a bandage on it."

James Wilson was a little surprised to hear from Dr Levins that Liz Parker wanted to start training already. Though he thought to himself why that would be is kind of dumb. She was an immortal, if a new one. Any injuries healed almost immediately. He thought about what she would need. Dr Levins had mentioned that Duncan McLeod wanted her to start working on building up muscle tone and endurance. That made sense=she would need to get a lot stronger if she was going to be able to defend herself. And at the same time she would not want to become obviously muscled or muscle bound. It went without saying that he would be expected to write down everything she did. Liz Parker was probably going to become the most Watched Immortal ever- very few times in all the years the Watchers had been around had they had the chance to see a brand new immortal start down the road like they did with Liz Parker. They knew the exact time almost to the minute she became Immortal and they would have a chance to watch the beginning of her training under one of the if not THE most respected Immortals alive, Duncan McLeod. Who was going to be her Watcher was right now, he knew, being heavily debated at watcher HQ. It was going to be a little tricky compared to most assignments, since Liz was expected to stay in school and in Roswell going about life as if nothing had changed for at least a few years. So her watcher was going to have to be someone that could blend right in to a teenaged girls lifestyle without sticking out. And that meant that the watcher was going to have to be young as well. Maybe not a teenager, but certainly pretty young. Clearly not an experienced watcher of any other immortal.

Joe Dawson was at that very moment pondering the same thing that James Wilson, Dr Levins, and more than a few others were doing. Who was going to be Liz Parkers Watcher? It was going to have to be someone young or at the very least young looking. Being able to blend into the kind of lifestyle that Liz Parker had and was going to continue for at least a few years would not be easy for anyone not in the same age group. Technically as the Head of the North American Division of the Society of Watchers that was his job. BUT this was such an extra ordinary situation that the Council had let it be known that they would be vetting his pick. That irritated him a little, but he could understand it. He was Duncan McLeods watcher, who would be training Liz Parker, and Duncan knew about the Watchers. Joe had no doubt at all that Duncan would quickly spot whoever they choose, but he had given Joe his word that he would not tell Liz about the watchers. The fact that Liz right now was in a Watchers clinic was a real bonus to being able to truly chronicle an Immortal from day one. Very few times, and actually from what Joe could gather from the conversation he had had with the head of the Watchers Research division, never had they had such total coverage of a new immortal like they had with Liz Parker. Certainly they had known about Richie Ryan very quickly, but that was a special case and everyone knew that Duncan had been trying to prepare Richie even before he became Immortal. Liz Parker was the classic case of a new immortal and they had the chance to watch it from the very beginning. One name that had been suggested by Dr Levins intrigued Joe. Cynthia Becker. She was a member of the Watchers, her family had been part of the Watchers for over 50 years. She was 25 and looked a little younger. She was a researcher and had some experience at various jobs. She already knew Liz and putting her into the clinic at Roswell would be easy. The problem with that was that knowing Liz would be a problem down the road when Liz had to leave Roswell when it became clear she was not aging- or when she went to college. The no fraternization rule was also something to be considered. It would not work since Liz already knew Cynthia and she also knew that Cynthia was on the up and up about immortals. The general rule with Watchers is that they stayed with one immortal until that immortal either lost his head or they grew too old to watch. But in this case it might be best to have Cynthia be there for the first few years then get someone else after. He decided to shoot that idea at HQ and let them think about it. He knew the purists who wanted Watchers to never have any contact with their Immortal would not like it, but he thought that this would be a good short term solution.

James Wilson started Liz on the treadmill to see how she did. Not too bad he thought, for someone who had never done any kind of physical training. He had been able to get some wrist weights and ankle weights and had had Liz put them on and told her to keep them on the entire day. Liz had grimaced when she felt the 5 lbs that each weighed- that was 20 more lbs she was going to be lugging around all the time. But she accepted the need. He then had her try out some of the weight machines and was not surprised at all that she could barely lift even light loads. Carrying plates of food was not a real workout and that was about all she had ever done. Liz finally finished her first session in physical training and was feeling totally exhausted. Slowly moving into the showers off of the Physical Therapy Room, she was glad to drop the weights if only for a few minutes. Well if I look exhausted when I get back to Roswell it will be what people expect of someone who was recovering from a gunshot wound, she thought. She had made that point to James Wilson and Dr Levins, and they had agreed that that might help cover things up.

Duncan was in Roswell checking out buildings. He had gotten a call from Dr Levins and he had agreed that having Liz start to train now was a good thing. The sooner she started the better. He was really thinking hard about what kind of sword to get Liz. It had to be light but strong enough to take blows from much heavier swords. He was thinking a Katana such as he had, but smaller. He knew of a sword maker in Japan that still made Katana's the old way. If he got word to him soon, the sword would be ready in a couple of months, which would be about right for when it would be time to switch from wooden training swords to the real thing. He stopped in front of one of the buildings on his list. It was a two story standard office building, but it had been remodeled as a dance studio that had not made it. So it had a big central room, but also had two smaller open rooms that would work as well. It also had a set of nice apartments above it. The entire building was empty right now, so he could get it right away. Best of all it was only 4 blocks from the Crashdown, so it would be very easy for Liz to get there any time. The big central room would work as the main area of the clinic, and the smaller rooms one of which could be also a treatment area. There were a set of offices as well. Overall he thought this building would do the job. BUT he needed a medical professional to make sure it would not seem out of the ordinary. He would have some modifications done so that the training room would be separate from the rest of the clinic. It would have its own entrance as well. He decided to call Dr Levins.

Dr Levins listened to what Duncan said about the building. He thought that it would do for a light treatment clinic. And separating the training room from the rest of the building sounded like it would work as well. With that pretty much settled, he could start assigning the people to run it. Since it would be a light treatment facility, they would not really need all that much equipment. X Ray Machines would probably be the most expensive equipment. Nothing else all that fancy would be needed.

Joe Dawson put down the phone after talking to Duncan. A place in Roswell had been found that could quickly be turned into a clinic that would serve to cover up the training room Duncan would be using to get Liz Parker ready for the immortal world and the Game. He was also thinking that he would need to temporarily move to Roswell as well since he WAS Duncan McLeod's official watcher. Duncan always let him know when he took a short trip if he ran into any immortals which is why Joe rarely tagged along. BUT Duncan would be in Roswell for several months at least to train Liz, so Joe really needed to be there. Luckily there was a Jazz Café in Roswell, that just happened to be for sale. It would be a good investment for the watchers, so Joe made some phone calls and got it done. He decided to surprise Duncan – and wonder of wonders it was only 3 blocks from the soon to be clinic, and only 5 from the Crashdown. Of course Roswell was not all that big, but it was still interesting that everything was so close together.

Liz was NOT looking forward to her second day of training. James had pushed her pretty hard the first day and she was totally exhausted afterwards. Luckily for her the aches and pains had gone away by morning- a perk of being immortal she guessed. She knew she had to do it but there was no way she was going to even make it appear that she liked it. She had called her parents and Maria and told them that she was doing fine and that they should not make that long drive just to talk to her. She thought she had gotten through to her parents but Maria was another story. So she called Alex and put it on him to keep Maria there in Roswell. Alex had not been happy and had pointed out to Liz that a suspicious Maria was a dangerous person to be around. Liz had agreed but maintained her stand that it was just plain dumb to waste all that time and money just to visit for a couple of hours.

Duncan had closed the deal on the building rather easily; it had been up for sale for over a year with no interest so his offer to lease it for 3 years met with enthusiasm from both the realtor and the owner. He had talked to Dr Levins about what equipment was needed and had started to make the arrangements. Luckily for him a clinic had just recently closed in Roswell and a lot of its equipment was still there in storage. Looking over the list he had gotten from the realtor (who was also looking to move that equipment out of storage) he thought that not a lot would need to be bought new. He had talked to Richie who would be running the Gym in Seacover while he was here in Roswell. Richie was definitely amused by him ending up with another student and having to stay there while he trained Liz. Duncan had reminded Richie that he was in charge there and it would be up to him to make sure the place ran well- Charlie took care of the actual day to day problems but Richie would be responsible for anything else. He was amused himself by the change in Richie's voice after he had thought about THAT. Duncan had also been able to contact the sword maker in Japan about a new smaller and lighter Katana- and that talk had gone well. The Sword Maker was intrigued by the challenge of doing something he had not done before and promised that he would have it ready for Duncan in 2 months. Duncan decided that things were going pretty well here and headed back to Albuquerque.

Puffing away on the treadmill Liz was pondering on whether being immortal was all it was cracked up to be. She was still wearing the wrist and ankle weights just as Duncan had required. It really got to you after a while, she thought. Well she certainly was working up a sweat, which was probably the point of it all.  
James Wilson thought Liz was doing pretty well, all things considered. She certainly had the grit and determination, which was half the battle. He had decided that an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon made a good start for Liz. As she got in better condition that would be lengthened. Duncan got back to the clinic in time to watch the last part of Liz's afternoon workout. He was encouraged as James had been by the steady intent in Liz to finish the workout. He knew it had to be tough on her; just starting out is always hard and especially so for someone who had never done it before. As Liz finished off on the treadmill, he walked up to her and handed her a towel. She was breathing pretty heavily and was soaked.

"You are doing pretty well, Liz. I know its tough right now as you are starting out but it will get better the more conditioning you have. And you will need every bit of it when we start training with swords. You would not think that that would require so much preparation but it does."  
Liz gratefully took the towel from Duncan and wiped her face and head. "I guess I have to take your word for that, Duncan, but then I should since from what I have heard you are considered one of the top swordsmen in the Immortal community."  
Duncan raised an eyebrow and looked at James. He held up his hands and said "She did not get that from me!"  
Liz smirked. "Actually I got that from Dr Levins. He told me I could not get a better teacher then Duncan McLeod."  
Duncan shook his head. Sometimes his reputation was more trouble then it was worth.

Joe Dawson had just gotten word back from Watcher HQ that they approved of his pick for Liz Parkers Watcher, Cynthia Becker. They also agreed that it would be a good idea to appoint another once Liz Parker left Roswell. So he decided to give Dr Levins the word to get Cynthia started.  
"Dr Levins? Its Joe Dawson" the secretary told Dr Levins.  
Dr Levins was a little surprised to hear back from Joe Dawson this quickly. He had not thought that the watchers would make the decision this quickly. Unless it was something else…  
"Joe, whats up?"  
"Doc, just heard back from HQ. They approved Cynthia as Liz's watcher until she leaves Roswell. You might as well let her know so she can get started. Obviously she will be one of those transferred to the new clinic. Oh and by the way, I have located a jazz café in Roswell the we can get and the arrangements are being made. So I should be in Roswell about the same time Liz Parker is transferred back."  
Thoughtfully Dr Levins put down the phone. I have got to tell Cynthia right away, and let her know that there is a time limit on how long she will be the watcher for Liz Parker.

Cynthia Becker knew that Dr Levins had recommended her as Liz Parkers watcher but did not know if either Joe Dawson or the watchers HQ would approve. She knew that this particular Immortal was getting more attention then normal due to the happenstance of finding her right away after she became Immortal and having her spend her first few days in a Watchers clinic. She was a little nervous about it all but at the same time very excited at the possibility of becoming a working watcher.  
Dr Levins called Cynthia into his office. As she came in he told her "Well, congratulations. You are now Liz Parkers watcher. I have to tell you though that its pretty much going to last only as long as Liz is in Roswell. Since you already know her, its felt that you would not be the person to watch her once she starts moving around. They still really want to prevent fraternization with Immortals, and the only reason they accept this is that she does not know about the Watchers."  
Cynthia nodded. While a disappointment, she really could not argue with their reasoning. Besides, if she proved herself as Liz Parkers watcher she would almost certainly get another immortal soon after.  
"I understand. At least starting out it should be pretty easy since Liz will be pretty busy training now and then back at school in the fall so its not like its going to be a hard assignment."  
Dr Levins was pleased with her attitude. "One thing to remember is see to it that you write everything down. This is a pretty high profile case and being able to watch two immortals interact like Duncan and Liz will does not happen too often; at least not with a Watcher able to be so close as you will be."

Duncan and Dr Levins both agreed that the first move to make would be to get the clinic in Roswell up and running. That way they could transfer Liz there instead of to another clinic or facility in Roswell where they might have problems with doctors and others asking too many questions and wanting to examine the "wound". They had the building, the people and the equipment but getting state approval to open up a clinic might take a while. Duncan called Joe and asked him to see if there was a way the Watchers could speed this up. Joe said he would check it out.  
Joe Dawson had right away called up Watcher HQ and asked if there was a way to speed the process up. They had replied that they would get right on it. Putting Liz Parker in anything other than a Watcher controlled facility risked her exposure and therefore Watcher exposure.

Liz was already in her 4th day of training and sick of it already, though grimly determined to gut it out. The wrist and ankle weights seemed to get heavier each day. Seeing that she did quite well at 2 hrs a day James Wilson and Duncan had agreed to double it. Liz had agreed with Cynthia (who had found time to stop by now and then to talk to Liz) that they were obviously closet sadists. Duncan on the 4th day had brought her a wooden practice sword and was already starting her on the basics. He was also starting on her foundation in the Martial Arts; Duncan used a combination of several different forms to make up his own unique style, which he was starting to teach Liz. Liz had asked why that was necessary and Duncan told her.

"Sword fighting is not all swings and parries; you sometimes get into a clinch or close and the opponent might take an opportunity to either wound you or slow you down with a punch or kick. You need to know how to counter them as well as get in your own shots. Remember this is a fight to the death and quite often the most important move is not a sword cut."

Cynthia had started out the morning of Liz's 3rd day at the clinic as the first day as Liz Parkers watcher. She had called up Joe Dawson to ask for some general guidelines on what should and should not be in a watchers chronicle. She had gotten a chance to read a few over the last couple of days but none of them came close to her situation. Joe had told her a general guideline to Liz's Life was in order but that what she ate for breakfast or what she wore to a party and such was not what belonged in a was the immortal part of her life that should be the main point with a general life filler. He also let her know that being able to watch Duncan McLeod train a newbie was a rare thing; he had only himself been able to watch a few, and no other watcher of Duncan Mcleod before him had been able to do any more then that. Cynthia would get a chance to see a lot more. And would be expected to file a separate report on how Duncan Mcleod trained a new immortal. Not to mention the fact that he had actually had relatively few students and had NEVER trained a woman. Always before when he had found a new female immortal he had found another woman immortal (usually either Cassandra or Amanda) to train her.

Maria had decided that Liz was right about making the trip up to Albuquerque more than once but she decided that then she had to phone to talk with Liz each day anyway. IT was annoying that the clinic did not have direct lines to a patients room and had to go through the clinics front desk which usually took several minutes (Unknown to Maria the delay was getting Liz out of her training area to a phone) but such was life. Liz seemed to be perking up and pretty upbeat all around. She thought that she would be getting sent back to Roswell pretty soon the problem was finding a clinic/facility that would take her on a short notice thing like this. She mentioned that the Deming Clinic was opening up a satellite clinic in Roswell (Apparently the parent company had been looking into this for a while without telling the Deming people anything about it) and if they were lucky it might open up in the next few days with Liz as their first patient.

Liz had gotten off the phone with Maria on her third day at the clinic feeling as if she had just gone through another training session. She had not realized that having to watch everything you said could be so stressful. She had already decided to bring Maria and Alex in on her secret (but not the game anytime soon- she knew that that would freak Maria out even more then Liz being immortal). She knew that on occasion she would need for someone to cover for her. Duncan had been a little skeptical about telling Maria though he agreed with telling Alex (who had impressed him on their short conversation the time they had visited Liz). Liz told Duncan that while Maria certainly could play the Drama Queen (he had laughed about the Mount St Maria story) she was a true blue friend and the closest one Liz had. What was actually more interesting to Liz was the fact that Max Evans kept asking about her and was clearly (to Maria anyway) pining away waiting for Liz to get back and had to be told by Maria NOT to go to Albuquerque(that was actually an exaggeration since Max had not said he was thinking of going –to Maria that was just saving face and that he had been really thinking about it). She was not immune to Max Evans appeal since they had been lab partners last semester and she actually thought that it might be a good idea. Of course she first had to give Kyle his walking papers but she would do that right after she got to Roswell- using the excuse that the whole incident had shaken her up and she really wanted to be alone for a while and think things through without the pressure of keeping up a relationship.

Joe Dawson had called Duncan back the next day with the word that the Watchers had indeed found a way to speed up the Roswell Clinics certification by the state board-a member of the state board was part of a Watchers family and "in the know". They would need to scramble in the next couple of days to get everything installed (Duncan had already gotten a carpenter to start working on the building modifications to separate the training room and fix up the main room for the clinic). IF they were lucky they would be able to transfer Liz 7 days after she had been sent to the clinic. Dr Levins had also been informed and already had enough people ready to go to give it an initial staff. He would go as the resident Doctor until Liz Parker left and his replacement arrived. Since it would be a satellite clinic to an already functioning New Mexico facility the state board would be able to speed certification (pushed along by the Watcher contact).

On the 5th day after Liz Parker had been sent to the Deming clinic, Duncan was looking around the new Roswell Clinic. The carpenter and his assistants had finished the modifications in only 2 days, sped along by the large bonus Duncan had promised. The training room on the left side of the clinic was done- heavily soundproofed, and as an interior room there were no windows to worry about. A new entrance at the side of the building into the alley led to the stairway to the upper floor and a separate apartment that had its own stairway down to the training room. There was a emergency exit from the training room to the basement, there was no access from the clinic to the training room. Over all Duncan was pleased with what he had to work with. The training room now had its own shower and dressing room (small but big enough). Duncan was looking over the apartment above the training room when he heard the door to the alley open. He quickly moved to the stairwell to see who was coming. The apartment did have an emergency fire escape out the window but Duncan was more interested in finding out who had come in- He knew he locked the door after he had entered. A slow clump clump coming up the stairs furrowed Duncans brow- he thought he recognized that gate.

Joe Dawson did not like stairs since it was awkward for a man with an artificial leg but it was worth it to see the look on Duncan's face when he came to the top of the stairs.  
Duncan was very surprised to see Joe- what in the world was he doing in Roswell?  
"I am your OFFICIAL watcher you know- I am supposed to follow you around. Its in the official Watcher manual." Joe smiled at Duncan rolling his eyes at that. Now for the real surprise:  
"There is a jazz café just a few blocks away that was in need of a buyer and the Watchers Society decided that it was a good investment. And they really only have one Watcher that has any experience in running one=at least in North America."

Duncan was a little startled by all this, then reminded himself that while Joe and he had a rather unique relationship as regards Immortals and Watchers Joe was supposed to be watching him a lot more then he usually did- because Duncan had long ago promised to fill Joe in on his trips. Since Duncan was going to be in Roswell nearly full time for at least several months, Joe really did have to keep a better eye on him. Then Duncan had a thought and sent a evil smile Joe's way:  
"So what is Methos going to do now for cheap beer? I can bet that Sam will not be giving him a break on his bar tab like you do."  
Joe had to laugh at that and agree. "Had not thought about that- Methos said that he would be back this week from wherever he had wondered off to. I wonder what the odds are that he stops by here out of curiosity as well as looking for cheap beer?"  
Duncan shook his head. "No bet. Methos will hear about me training a new immortal and I know him well enough to realize that the curiosity will beat out even HIS need for cheap beer." 


	2. Chapter 2

On her 6th Day at the clinic Liz was finding it very hard to make it through all the training Jimmy and Duncan were putting her through. She was now spending 4hrs running on the treadmill and stretching and starting to work the weight machines. Then an hour with Duncan in the morning and an hour in the afternoon all added up to 6 hrs a day. True she was used to getting up at 5AM and usually did not hit bed until 9PM or so but it took a while for her to recover from each session so that did not leave much of a day to do anything else. Even her immortal ability did not do a lot to help her recover all that fast from exhaustion. Duncan explained that while muscle pulls and the like were healed quickly, just plain exhaustion due to exertion was not something that the immortal quickening seemed to do much with. So an immortal had to build up their stamina in order to defend themselves. Liz was also wondering how she was going to be able to train much after she got home. Once she was home and "recovered" there was just no way she could spend 4-6 hrs a day doing her training. She could probably figure on at best 2 hrs a day-especially once school started again. Duncan let her know that one way would be to increase the weights she was wearing-Liz wanted to throw her soaking wet towel at him for that. Duncan did give her some good news: Immortals seemed to be able to build strength and endurance much quicker then mortals.

Dr Levins had just returned from his first good look at the new clinic. It was almost ready to open; already most of the people for the staff were there and moving in to the offices and clinic area. All the necessary equipment was in place, and the state board had approved all the technicians, nurses and himself as the doctor on site. Just some minor details needed to be ironed out. He had decided that the next day they would transfer Liz to the new clinic-it would technically open the day after but he felt there should be no problem with it.  
Cynthia was finding it very hard to be impartial about chronicling Liz Parker= she really like the young woman. Liz was bright and cheerful, incredibly intelligent and sharp, and was one of the most decent and kindest people Cynthia had ever meant. There really was nothing not to like about Liz Parker. And the more she saw of Duncan Mcleod, the more she understood why so many Watchers and Immortals had such respect for him. He truly tried to be the epitome of Honor. This all worried her a little, so she screwed up her courage and called Joe Dawson to ask him how he was able to be impartial with Duncan McLeod. His answer startled her a little.

"I do not have a hard time because I do not try and be all that impartial. Duncan is hardly ever in the wrong so it is not something that comes up very often. When he is he quite often quickly admits it. I can give him the benefit of the doubt because over the years he has conclusively shown that he deserves it. It sounds to me that Liz Parker is cut from the very same cloth; and therefore I would not worry about the impartial part- just write down what you see as it happens= I would recommend you get a small recorder and just speak your words quietly into it. Then transcribe it as you said it originally. As long as you leave nothing else you will have done your job."

Cynthia chewed on all that for a while and finally came to the conclusion that she would just write it as she saw it and leave the interpretations to someone else.

Liz was quite happy to be on her way back to Roswell on the 7th day. The only down side to it was that they had waited until after her last training session ended at 4 PM before getting things ready to go. Which meant they would not be in Roswell until around 8 PM. The upside was that she could rest and nap on the way.

Duncan and Dr Levins were in the new clinic making sure everything was ready for Liz's arrival. They wanted to make certain that any visitors would not be suspicious. Liz would be put into one of the two rooms made up for patients staying over night. The rest of the clinic was strictly for out patients. The plan was to have Liz stay there for at least 3-4 days then sent home for semi bed rest with daily visits to the clinic (where she could train for at least a while). They would continue that for at least a week before she was declared cured. The Hollywood special make up technician Dr Levins had found would be there the next week and before Liz left the clinic the fake scar would be in place. It was put together so that Liz could keep it on for 3-4 days before she had to replace the adhesive. Or after every shower if she got it too wet.

Once they got to the clinic Liz was taken in on a gurney just in case anyone was watching. No one seemed to be but the Watchers and Duncan were taking no chances. In a short while she was established in the room and ready for visitors. Who came very quickly once Dr Levins informed the Parkers that their daughter was now back in town.  
Jeff and Nancy were over to the clinic within half an hour of Liz arriving. "Liz you look so much better than during our last visit. Dr Levins says your recovery is going very quickly" Nancy was very happy to see Liz looking so well. One never would have thought that she had been so close to death just a week earlier.

"That is what he keeps telling me mom. I am just happy to be back in Roswell and if things go well I will be back home in 3-4 days. Then mostly bed rest for the next week while the Doc here checks that there are no problems. I should be able to go back to work the week after that for short shifts, then full shifts the week after that."  
"Honey we have told you NOT to worry about that. And we do not want you over doing it and having a relapse" Jeff was being very firm about that. His daughter was a notorious over achiever and this was one case when they were going to put their foot down..  
Liz sighed. Not like this surprised her at all; she had been expecting it. Though it would help her to do more training this way.  
The Parkers stayed for half and hour and only left when Maria and Alex arrived. Admonished by the Parkers not to stay long as it was getting late and Liz needed her rest, the somewhat abashed pair promised to make their visit short.  
Once the door was closed Maria as expected jumped right in.  
"so chicka how does the stomach look. Can we see?"  
"Maria!"  
"Oh come on Alex you try and tell me that you are not curious?"  
"Of course I am but I can wait unlike someone we all know and occasionally suffer with"  
"Hey"  
Liz had to smile- Maria was Maria and nothing would ever change that and Liz somehow liked that steady constant of an unpredictable Maria in her life. She suddenly had gotten an appreciation of that sort of thing in the last week.  
"No you are not going to get to see it for a while since the Doctor just rebandaged it before we left and he wants to check it again tomorrow- he is hoping to take out the stitches in the next few days. Once he does that I will be going home."  
Alex was very happy to hear that but was surprised how fast the stitches would be coming out and said so.  
"Well I was very lucky and during the emergency surgery here at Roswell the doctor doing it made a relatively small incision. And the doctor at the clinic who got the bullet out used the same one for that so I will have only one scar about 4 inches long. Since I seem to be healing relatively fast it seems I will be home sooner than anyone would have thought last week at this time."

Joe Dawson had just gotten around to reading Dr Levins account of Liz Parkers operation to get out the bullet and was startled by it. For a newbie immortal less then a day old her healing factor was VERY high. Added to Duncans account at how quickly Liz had revived after her first death, this made her a very unusual immortal. Newbie's with this strong a quickening this early was just unheard of. He pondered on this for a while and was thinking about sending an enquiry to the Watchers Research division when Methos walked into the Seacover Jazz bar that Joe would be leaving the next day for Roswell.  
"Well Joe what is this I hear about Duncan getting a new student in Roswell of all places?"  
Joe chuckled at that. Of course the official researcher of Methos for the Watchers, Adam Pierson, would find a way to keep up with all the latest gossip.  
"You heard right and I will be down running a Jazz Café there starting tomorrow so your cheap beer tab is going to end here at the same time. Sam has made it clear he is cutting NO one any slack."

Methos pouted- which made Joe laugh all the more.  
" Well then I guess I am going to have to tramp down to Roswell myself if for no other reason to bother the Boy Scout by sitting in the corner and laughing as he tries to train the newbie. A young woman if the gossip is correct. I know he has never taken on a woman as a student- he always had either Cassandra or Amanda do it. Which is usually the best since women usually fight different from men and they also can sympathize with her better then a man can anyway. Do you know why?"  
"Probably because she has the chance to continue her old life for several years or maybe more depending on her luck. He realizes how rare that is and wants to make sure as much as possible that she can have that. Lets face it there is no way Amanda would stay in Roswell for any time at all and Cassandra would draw too much attention with her lifestyle. Duncan already has an in as the director of the new clinic that she will be staying in for a few days and going in for checkups for a while. He has set up a training room that can be hidden in the clinic so that should also help."

Methos frowned. "While I can understand doing that for a while, she is going to have to come to grips with leaving all she has known no matter what. These few years of false security in the end will be of no real help if she is going to cope with an immortals life. Like tearing a band aid right off instead of peeling it, it will be better for her in the long run"  
Joe rolled his eyes. "Can always count on you to take the most pessimistic and dark look at things."  
Methos was unmoved. " I like to call it being practical and realistic"  
"Ok mr Practical and Realistic, read this. This is Dr Levins account of his operation on Liz to get the bullet out. Add to this the fact that Duncan is sure that Liz revived only a couple of hours after she died."  
Methos raised an eyebrow at that- that was very quick for coming back after a first death. Most immortals took at least 12 hours; with some taking as long as 18-24. He took the account from Joe and read it.

Joe sat back and waited in anticipation. Methos was actually a very good researcher and quite good at ferreting out things. Add to his 5000+ years of actual experience and Joe figured that he would get as good an answer to the unusually strong quickening that Liz Parker seemed to have.  
Methos read the account with increasing disbelief. This kind of a strong quickening so soon after a first death in someone this young was like nothing he had ever heard of. He put down the account and sat back in his chair, turning and staring at a wall for several minutes.  
Joe leaned forward in increasing interest. Methos was clearly startled by the account and seeing the ancient immortal like this was very rare indeed.  
Methos was thinking very hard. This was as unusual as he had ever seen and his curiosity was increasing by the minute. He looked over at Joe.  
"I will be in Roswell tomorrow as well. I really want to meet Miss Parker."  
He said nothing else and got up and walked out the door, leaving an astonished Joe Dawson in his wake. This kind of reaction from Methos was very unlike him. He had not even stopped to get a beer.

Liz had just finished her morning workout with Jimmy and had taken her shower in the new clinic (she liked that she got more privacy this way) when she was told Kyle was here to see her. She sighed at that- she was really hoping she would have more time to figure out what to say to him. Luckily she had a hair dryer and had finished drying her hair as she walked out the back of the building to move to the rear entrance of the clinic. She had told Cynthia who had let her know to wait for her call from her room when she was ready.

Kyle paced impatiently in the lobby of the new clinic. It had sure opened fast which he was grateful for since it got Liz back in Roswell faster. He was in one way really glad and in another worried because he had a feeling Liz was about to break up with him. And he was conflicted about that. He thought Liz was a great girl and a great person but he had to admit that he did not love her. They had had a good time together but he doubted it was going to go anywhere. And he thought that Liz was probably feeling the same. But he also knew that she would be reluctant to take any action she thought would hurt someone else-preferring to take the pain on herself if possible. And there was no way Kyle was going to go along with that-so he had determined to lay it all out as soon as possible.  
Liz sat back in her bed and let Cynthia know she was ready. She was trying to rehearse what she wanted to say to Kyle in her head but she could not seem to get the words right. This was tough since she really hated to hurt anyone and Kyle was a real nice guy. She hoped that the inkling she got that maybe Kyle realized they were not meant to last was correct.  
Kyle walked into Liz's room and saw that she was sitting up in bed and looking real good for someone who had almost died just a week ago. That made him feel a little better about the decision he had made.  
"Liz- you look great for someone who got shot only a week ago and just barely made it. You must heal real fast. "  
Liz smiled at that- pretty much the same thing people either said or she was pretty sure they thought when they saw her.  
"That is what people seem to say to me lately. I guess its better then the alternative."  
Kyle sat down in the chair next to the bed and took Liz's hand. Ok Valenti its time to bite the bullet and get it done.  
"Liz. I am not sure how to say this but I kind of think you know what its about."  
He stopped, obviously trying to find the right words. Liz decided that she needed to save him from having to spell it out.

"Well I guess this is either coincidence or maybe we do know each other better then we thought. I really like you Kyle and think you are a great guy but I do not think you are the guy for me. Is that pretty much the same thing you wanted to say to me except of course I would be pissed a little if you called me a guy." Then she quietly smiled at him.  
Kyle shook his head. He knew that Liz had wanted to save him any embarrassment and she had to a certain extent. He owed it to her to be as equally honest and forthright. "Pretty much, Liz. And I would never call you a guy. We had some good times and I have no regrets except that I did hope it would end up being more. I really do not think there is a better girl or better person in Roswell."

Liz blushed. "That is about the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, Kyle, and I really thank you. But I disagree about no better girls -or if I want to be really honest at least as good as I am- I do have something of an ego you know. You just have to look around some more. They are out there and if you ever need a character reference send them to me. You are a great guy and a great person."  
Kyle blushed a little himself, and was a little annoyed at doing so. "Well I hope I do not have to do that Liz, since it would be a little awkward. But right back at you if some guy wonders about you- but then if he does then he is definitely not the guy for you since anyone who cannot see how great you are is really deaf dumb and blind."  
Liz grinned at him. "OK, lets stop with saying things that make each other turn red. While it is kind of nice its kind of awkward since we are breaking up and this is really not the way it usually goes. Which I am certainly not complaining about, but…" she trailed off, not able to really find the words.  
Kyle nodded. "Yeah maybe we should cut this off now before it gets really awkward and weirder then it already is.  
"Yeah its not like Roswell is not weird enough as it stands." Liz smiled back at him and gave a squeeze to his hand.  
Kyle let go of her hand and stood up. "Liz I hope to stay your friend and anytime you need something you let me know."  
"Right back at you Kyle. Any time any place. I like to keep my friends."

Over the next 3 days Liz alternated with training and being visited by her friends and family. Claudia came by the next day with Dad and Mom. They had a nice visit early in the morning. Claudia was impressed by how quickly Liz was healing. Nancy and Jeff were just happy she was. They were busy planning for Liz to be home that Friday. Dr Levins stopped by during their visit and indicated that Liz was doing very well indeed and that she should be able to move around some once she got home. Liz was a little frustrated since she knew that her training would have to be cut back once she was home and on semi bed rest. She was going to visit the clinic each day and she was able to find a way to stay a little longer by saying she had made some real good friends there, especially Jimmy and Cynthia. And then she got the bright idea of saying that physiotherapy would be much easier there. Dr Levins picked right up on that and said that he would have no trouble certifying to the insurance company that it was needed. He thought that 2 hrs a day slowly lengthening would be the way to go. Liz then knew that she would be able to convince her parents to let her start working out after that by saying that while she had never done it before that she found she liked doing it. She decided that she would get a membership to a local gym and do some working out there while then slipping over to the clinic for workouts with Duncan.

Maria and Alex came over each evening and that was usually a fun time since they could now relax as regards Liz being almost home and clearly healing fast.  
Liz had of course told Maria of the breakup with Kyle, so Maria had wasted no time in telling Max.  
The next morning Max came in for his daily update on Liz (he felt it would be pushing it to try and see Liz while she was at the clinic). Maria to a certain extent agreed with that, and she was glad to see that Max was eager to see Liz. She was very glad to let him know the news.  
"Well Max you're up." Were here words to him.  
Max got a puzzled look on his face. "What do you mean Maria?"  
"Liz gave Kyle the heave ho yesterday, though actually it turned out to be a mutual thing. Kyle had been thinking it over as well and came to the realization that they were better off as friends the same way Liz had. So the parting was a friendly one"  
"I am glad about that, so I can try and see Liz without feeling guilty I was taking advantage of the situation."  
Maria snorted. "Of course you are taking advantage of the situation. All is fair in love and war, remember?"  
Max blinked. "Maria you seem awfully eager to put Liz and I together?"  
Now Maria got serious. "I think that you and Liz could be a real good match. You are both a lot alike in a lot of ways. I think you two would mesh pretty well. I want Liz to be happy and I think you both could be happy together."  
Max looked at her. "Thank you Maria, I will try and not let you down"  
Maria smiled at him in a way that suddenly sent chills down his spine.  
"Just make sure you don't hurt her or I will get you for it. Remember that."

Joe Dawson was not surprised that Methos was in his new spot the same day he took over. His curiosity about Liz Parker was definitely out of the ordinary, and for the 5000 year old Immortal to show interest like that openly spoke volumes. That had prodded Joe into asking the Watcher Research division for an average on the time of a immortal reviving after their first death. While the actual data was somewhat sparse, all indications were that Liz Parker was an unusual case. Richie Ryan had revived 11 hours after his first death, and that was considered fairly fast. For Liz Parker to come back at 2 hrs was extremely out of the norm. For all his above average return to life the first time, all other indications were that he was a normal Immortal. There was no data indicating that those that revived quickly had anything else out of the ordinary. However when you coupled that to the extreme power of Liz's healing shown during the operation to remove the bullet, you got a different picture. THAT certainly indicated that Liz had a stronger than usual quickening. Joe was very interested in seeing Methos's first meeting with Liz Parker. Methos had indicated in the past that he could tell the differences in a Immortals quickening, being able to tell a newbie from an old one; or one that had taken a lot of heads.

Methos had a back door into the Watchers Main computer system that he had put in when he first got access to it. That had come in very handy indeed after the whole Hunters fiasco. The watcher council decreed that blocks and restrictions on data on immortals would be increased greatly to prevent most Watchers from being able to learn much about other immortals without a very good reason and approval from supervisors. The Council was certain that there were still Hunter sympathizers in the society despite their very ruthless and thorough clean up after the last hunter had been executed. A special section, patterned after the Internal Affairs divisions of most police departments, was now a permanent part of the Society. Their job would be to constantly be looking for those sympathizers.

Over the last two days Methos had scoured the data base on immortals with strong quickenings that had not come from taking heads. The data he found was very scarce. There just were no real examples of what Liz Parker had shown. Her very fast revival coupled with such an aggressive healing system less then one day later was unprecedented. Very little surprised the old Immortal any more, and even less startled him. But this did. Having encountered literally hundreds if not more than a thousand Immortals in all his years, he had also never encountered someone so young with such a strong quickening. He found himself very eager indeed to meet this young woman.

Liz Parker was looking forward in one way to getting back home; the familiar surroundings and sleeping in her own bed was definitely something to look forward to. However it was going to cut down on her training time(not that she really objected to that, seeing how exhausted and painful the sessions with both Jimmy and Duncan were) and she knew that that was NOT a good thing for someone who had to quickly learn how to defend herself from sword wielding head hunters. She was still wearing her wrist and ankle weights, and had been somewhat startled when she realized that the extra weight had become second nature. She had examined herself carefully in the mirror and was unable to be sure that she saw any visible signs that she was getting stronger, but she knew she was. 10 days into her training, and she was now able to lift weight that she had not been able to the first day. It was not a great increase, but it definitely was there.

Dr Levins was surprised to get the request from Adam Pierson to see Liz Parker. The head researcher (actually the only researcher, but Dr Levins did not know that) of the fabled "Methos", supposedly a reclusive and illusive immortal that was supposed to be over 5000 years old, by far the oldest Immortal still with his head attached to his body. There was a great deal of skepticism by a lot of Watchers that Methos even existed, but the search still went on. Why Pierson wanted to see Liz Parker was something he asked him: Piersons response interested him. He had read of Liz's quick revival and more importantly of her aggressive healing indicating an unusually strong quickening for such a young immortal. Methos reportedly had a very strong quickening due to his age at the very least, and so it did seem somewhat to the point that Pierson would want to meet an immortal with apparently a strong quickening.

Dr Levins had to carefully think about how he would introduce Adam to Liz; Liz did not know about the Watchers, so a reason for Adam to see her had to be found. He decided on a little half truth=he would say that those in the know about Immortals naturally were curious about them, and that Adam was one who actually did research as much as possible on them. He would be put in the mold of the absent minded professor into pure research in the quest for knowledge, making him appear non threatening.  
Liz was indeed curious about Adam Pierson when told of his wanting to meet her. She thought that it must be hard to do any research on Immortals considering how well they seemed to be able to hide. She wanted to ask him some things as well about Immortals since he seemed to know a lot more then she did, and she had found that outside of the basics Duncan seemed somewhat reticent to speak about Immortals, unless it was to teach her things he felt she needed to know to survive the Game.  
Methos walked into Liz Parkers room for his first glimpse of this unusual immortal. Her quickening did indeed seem much stronger then a newbie with no heads to her credit should be. His perusal of all data and what was known about Liz Parker in every way indicated that there was nothing hidden about her past. A foundling, as all Immortals were, and her background was an open book. In a relatively small city like Roswell, it would have been impossible to hide anything extreme about her.

So the notion that she was an older immortal posing as a newbie just did not fly. Plus Duncan had mentioned to Joe that the first buzz he got from Liz before her death was normal for a pre immortal. So something had happened to her as she died and revived. BUT What could that be? Her death was caused by a normal shooting; nothing unusual there= most pre immortals seemed to die violent or sudden deaths. This was a mystery that he really wanted to examine. Liz Parker at first glance did not seem remarkable. A very pretty girl, physically small and slight, but clearly very intelligent and sharp. Observant as well. Her eyes had gotten very wide at the realization that another Immortal was here to see her= and she had the quickness of mind to take the pad and paper she had on her nightstand and write this: "Do you want to speak openly about being an Immortal- I kind of have the feeling that anything I say in this room is monitored". She thought that was a logical move on the clinics part so that anything that suddenly came up of if she called for help someone would know. And while the people at the clinic knew about Immortals, maybe they did not know Adam was one of them. Methos was a little amused at what she did, but at the same time gave her full marks for not being a patsy and too trusting. Something he had constantly ragged on the Boy Scout for being that way for years. He wrote below her writing "No, I would prefer that they did not know about me"  
Methos started things out simply. "I try and do research on Immortals because they fascinate me. But its hard to find that many to talk to me. Duncan Mcleod has helped me on occasion to talk to some and I am glad to be able to talk to you, since I have not had the chance to talk to someone so new to the Immortal ranks."

Liz liked Adam. He was clearly an intelligent and sharp person, and not bad looking at all. Since she had a vested interest in finding out all she could about Immortals, she thought that they could help each other.  
"Sounds OK to me. And I have some questions about Immortals as well. Duncan is quite willing to teach me how to survive the Game, but he is somewhat reluctant to talk about other immortals. So being able to talk to some one who knows a lot more then I do about them is something I am looking forward to. So fire away"  
Methos carefully considered how to go about this. He really could not say too much, since he knew this was all being taped and anything suspicious would get back to the council. He had found that being a watcher had helped him avoid Immortal entanglements over the years, and he had always found it amusing being the researcher on the "Methos" project.  
"If you please could tell me everything you remember about the shooting and what you felt when you woke up in the hospital"

"Not a whole lot about the shooting. Just felt the impact in my stomach and falling to the floor, and passing out pretty much right after. I have been told that Max Evans, who is a classmate of mine and was my lab partner in Biology last year, got to me first and was trying to apply pressure to the wound. I think I remember him touching my stomach, and feeling something warm there, but maybe that is my imagination working over time. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital that night, feeling a whole lot better than anyone with a bullet in their stomach should feel. My curiosity got the better of me and I took off my bandage when I felt no pain or discomfort. Imagine my feelings when I found no wound, and the thread from my stitches laying there with the unneeded bandage. Not long after that as I was trying to figure out what was going on Duncan showed up and I got this terrible sudden headache. That went away when I looked at him as he told me to. Then he explained that I was now an Immortal. I would have liked to argue with him, but the evidence was pretty definite that something very strange was going on, and his story of what had happened to me fit the way I was feeling and the fact that I had no wound."

Methos listened attentively. So far nothing unusual at all there, except for that possible thing with Max Evans. Probably nothing, but he would check him out as well. You never knew where leads in a story might take you.  
Liz then asked him about what he knew about Immortals as a whole. Methos used his centuries (if not millenniums) of telling half truths and leading suggestions to give her a fairly accurate picture of Immortals as a whole. He told her that no one knew just how many were around (which was indeed true) and that they had no real idea of the actual numbers (which was not true). He thought there were probably several thousand of them, but had no idea if he was right. He mentioned that they were in many ways like most people, some good some bad and most in the middle. The headhunters were a relatively small number, and he thought the good ones were somewhat more representeted. Though he doubted that many were as overall as good a person as Duncan Mcleod was.  
Liz listened carefully. She was sure that Adam was leaving a lot out, since he was an immortal himself and clearly did not want anyone at the clinic to know about that. So she made plans to make sure that he came to see her, or if he could not she wanted to go see him while he was in town so that they could talk openly.  
She wrote that down on her pad and showed it to him. He nodded. He was also eager to talk to her a little more and felt that giving her more of an honest opinion of immortals as a whole then the Boy Scout would tell her was to her advantage as well.

Duncan Mcleod came into Joe's new place the second night it was open and was very surprised to see Methos there as well. Nodding to Joe he sat down next to Methos at the bar and cocked his eye at him.  
Methos was working on his second beer and was amused at Duncan's demeanor. The Boy Scout was in normal curious mode and at the same time wondering if methos was going to be talking to his new student. Methos was going to enjoy this.  
"I have already been to see Liz Parker in my Adam Pierson guise as regards the Watchers and as someone who has tried to research Immortals to Liz. So I told her a watered down version of things and she played along. As soon as she got the buzz she was writing down on her pad asking if I wanted it kept quiet about being an Immortal since she was sure the room was being monitored. Of course she thought the bugging was because they wanted to be able to respond if they heard anyone in the room asking for help or in audible distress. She has no idea about Watchers."  
Duncan was skeptical. Methos was rarely interested in new immortals.  
"Come on, you have shown little curiosity about new immortals in the past. Why are you so curious about Liz Parker? "  
Methos grinned. It was always fun tweaking the Boy Scout.  
"Surely you noticed that her quickening is stronger then the average Newbie?"  
Duncan frowned. "Well it does seem so but so what? That is not THAT unusual."  
"Not that her quickening is so strong so quickly so much is that her aggressive healing is. I guess Dr Levins did not give details about her operation to remove the bullet?"  
Duncan shook his head. "He said nothing to me about it."  
Methos sighed. Sometimes Duncan was a little naïve.  
"Of course he said nothing. He is a Watcher and he is not going to say anything to another Immortal about something like that unless he had to."  
"So what was so unusual?" sometimes prying information out of Methos was like removing teeth the old fashioned way- with pliers.

"He almost had his hand sealed to her wound her healing was so aggressive. I have never heard of that kind of strength in someone only one day an immortal without taking any heads."  
Duncan sat back, a little shocked. THAT was very unusual. That added to what was indeed a much stronger quickening in a new immortal, which now as he thought about it was stronger then any he had felt from a newbie every before, startled him. He looked at Methos.  
"Do you have any theories or speculations?"  
"Nothing at this time. Liz's account of everything seems pretty typical except for the speed of her revival. The only thing that might possible stand out is that she THINKS that the young man who tried to help her right after she was shot when he put his hand on her wound she felt a strange warmth of some kind. That may be nothing but her imagination coming from the shock of the incident but it is the only thing that is not normal. I am going to check out that young man anyway."  
"What is his name?"  
"Max Evans.

Methos first found out what he could on Max Evans. And some of that was interesting. Found as foundlings wandering in the desert by the Evans at the age of 6 with his sister Isabel. No trace of parents or relatives found, they were adopted by the Evans. That made him even more interested. So he first got their address and drove by the house. Simple and unpretentious in a good neighborhood. He was lucky that as he drove by Max came out and got in his Jeep and headed towards the town center. Methos followed at a distance, not wanting to spook his target. Max headed towards the Crashdown Café where he parked nearby and headed in. Methos decided to follow him in. He was lucky again in that he was able to slide into the booth next to Max. Even luckier to overhear the waitress who wore the name tag Maria tell Max that Liz would be home the next day. Methos figured that the waitress was Maria Delucca, Liz's best friend. Max did not stay long.

Methos waited until he had left to leave himself. Max had gotten close enough for Methos to be sure that he was neither an immortal nor a Pre immortal, but he did get a twitch of some kind from him; like nothing he had ever felt before. It was just barely there, but it was something. Methos was beginning to think that Liz's recollection of Max's hand being warm and doing something to her was correct. THAT would explain her unusually quick revival and quickening. Of course HOW that could happen was a whole other story. Nothing in Methos's long life had ever indicated there was a way to strengthen a quickening other than by age or taking heads. He had on a few occasions run into healers that did seem to be able to speed the process by psychic means- always doubtful of that sort of thing he had still seen enough to know it was possible. BUT he failed to see how that could affect the quickening, and none of the healers had given off any kind of buzz or vibe or anything; not like Max. So he was once again left with more questions than answers.

Max left the Crashdown encouraged by the news that Liz would be home the next day. He was determined to talk to her; he felt for some reason he could not define that he had to act now or forever lose any chance with her. He did not know why he felt that way, but he did. He decided as well that he had to tell Isabel and Michael about his plans. He knew that that would not be easy and that they would not really accept him trying to start a relationship with someone outside of them. But he was determined that he would try.

As was to be expected, he told them that evening and their reaction pretty much followed what he thought it would be. Isabel was dismissive and hostile to it, but said as usual he would do what he wanted no matter what they said. Michael just rolled his eyes- he was not surprised at all. But he felt the same way-nothing good would come of it. Max told them that if they wanted to spend their lives alone that was up to them; he wanted to have more out of life then the paranoid go it alone life they had led since coming out of the pods.

Liz had just finished up the last training session of the day with Duncan. And she was worn out. Duncan had started her on doing Kata's with the wooden practice sword he had gotten for her. It was a series of exercises that had to be done very precisely and repeated over and over again. Liz was a little surprised that she did as well as she did. Duncan was encouraged as well. Liz seemed to have a natural grace and sense of timing that would stand her in good stead in her training. Liz was worn out though. While her immortal healing would have her recovered by morning, at the moment she was dragging. But she perked up again when Adam Pierson stopped by and they went into the Training room to talk. Adam looked around and decided they needed to get outside the building if they really wanted to talk openly. So they went over to his car and drove out of town with Liz staying low in the seat so as not to be seen. Once outside of town they found a quiet spot.  
Liz decided that she needed to know some things.  
"Well, lets get started and if you do not mind I want to begin." She looked at Adam expectantly.  
Methos shrugged and leaned back in the seat with a gesture of fire away.  
Liz pulled out a list. She always tried to be prepared when she could be. Methos got a small smile at that. He was not surprised- he figured she was the type to be as organized as possible.  
"Ok, first off how old are you. I can sense that your quickening is a little stronger then Duncans and that means usually greater age, right?"  
Methos was very surprised that she could tell the difference- that ability usually only came to those immortals over a 1000 years old, and some not even then. Amanda could not, but Cassandra could. That an immortal less than 2 weeks old could tell that difference was just one more clue that there was more to Liz Parker then anyone including herself knew. He decided to deflect her somewhat by answering her questions his way.

"Not all the time; some immortals have a stronger quickening from the start; others get stronger by taking more heads. Duncan has taken quite a few over the years, some of them very strong. I will admit that I am older then Duncan, but I try and keep a low profile in the immortal community. It usually means you keep your head longer."  
Liz frowned. He was not going to tell her his age but then that was his right, wasn't it? Not really that important but it was just something she wanted to know. BUT his comment about Duncan brought up question #2.  
"Duncan Mcleod seems to have a reputation as one of the really good guys as Immortals go but you just said that he has taken a number of heads. Does that not contradict his image; or has he made a specialty of taking out bad guys?" Methos smirked. "There is a reason I like to call him a Boy Scout, Liz. Duncan has this mania about honor and fighting the good fight. Its gotten him in a lot of trouble over the years and many times could have cost him his head. If he has a guardian angel I hope he gets overtime and bonuses, because he certainly earns it."

Liz nodded. OK that relieved her mind a little bit but she had to admit she had pegged Duncan as a good guy from the first minute she saw him in the hospital. She once again realized just how lucky she was that Duncan had found her.  
"OK next question. Are there any concentrations of Immortals or are they mostly loners?"  
"Mostly loaners. There have been a few married couples that lasted centuries, one that has lasted over 300 years so far. Usually though they eventually break up and sometimes one of them loses their head. As regards other kinds of relationships and such its very rare."  
Liz was trying to rap her mind around a 300 year old relationship. Shrugging her shoulders, she put that off to wonder about another time.  
"From what Duncan and some at the clinic have said they think that Roswell has been pretty much avoided by the Immortal crowd. Is that because of the circus of UFO that we have become or is it just a part of the US they just do not seem interested in."  
"I think its both. The Southwest is usually pretty sparse of Immortals anyway. Most go to either extreme- big cities to hide in or out in the country with few people around."  
"What is the oldest immortal known, and how long do you think they have been around?"  
"There are rumors of one called Methos that is supposed to be over 5000 years old but that is thought by many to be just legend. No one has a clue how long we have been around. Probably thousands of years before that anyway. No one really knows."  
Liz blinked at that, but the answer did not surprise her. She would love to talk to someone 5000 years old- what things he could tell her!

Cynthia had followed Liz and Adam Pierson to the edge of town but had to drop back once they got on a side road. She turned off her lights and got out of the car and followed on foot. She got close enough to overhear some of the conversation, but it was a clear night with a full moon so she did not dare get any closer. She had asked for one of the parabolic mikes that would enable her to overhear conversations at a distance but it had not come in yet. Liz seemed to be asking generic questions for the most part. Cynthia figured that Liz knew anything she said could be recorded in the clinic, and that was fair. Liz had to be a little paranoid after what had happened to her in the last couple of weeks. It did surprise her that Adam was being so open with her- but then Liz seemed to have that effect on most people she met. Liz Parker was someone you just naturally trusted.

On Liz's last day at the clinic the Hollywood special make up technician that Dr Levins had arranged to come and do a scar for her showed up. He was not part of the watchers or in the know so they had had to concoct a story that would fly. It was decided that a rich uncle was indulging his favorite niece by letting her get this scar to play some practical jokes on her friends. Liz proceeded to play the ditzy air head role to a T and fooled the technician totally, who was heard to mutter that clearly Hollywood had no exclusive patent to the classic air head. Liz was very interested in the whole process but managed to do a good job of hiding it. Cynthia was there with her and promised to remind her if she forgot something. The technician thought that she would really have her work cut out for her. But he was being well paid for a days work so he really did not care much.  
Liz examined the scar closely once the technician left. She poked and prodded it and asked Cynthia what it looked like.  
"It's a scar just like anyone else who had an operation has. Which is exactly what you want. BUT you are going to have to remember to keep it on. That will get kind of old after a while but there you are."  
Liz nodded. It would get to be a drag but that was a minor detail if it let her live her life the way she wanted to.

It had been decided that Liz would leave the clinic to the Crashdown in her parents van that they normally used to pick up supplies for the Crashdown. It was big and roomy and it would thus be a good transport for someone supposedly still recovering from a gunshot wound. Dr Levins had talked to Liz about how she had to move slow and seem somewhat weak still. She had to play her part to make sure no one got suspicious. Liz knew this but she understood that Dr Levins was just playing it safe and she got it.

Jeff and Nancy were eager to get their daughter back at home where she had belonged. They had not realized how much they had missed her at home- this was the longest time they had ever been apart. Even the last few days while Liz had been in the Roswell Clinic it had not been the same. They were getting an idea of what it would be like in a few years when Liz went off to college. Liz had expressed a strong desire to attend Harvard and had been working on getting a scholarship there. Since she was already on the Honor role after her first year in Roswell High, she had a good chance to end up valedictorian = which would be a big step towards getting one. They knew that any way it happened Liz would be going away to some top college somewhere a long way from Roswell.

Liz had also been thinking about college as well. She would need to leave Roswell anyway after a time when it got more and more clear she was not aging. College, especially a major university, would be a lot easier to hide that. She still wanted to go to Harvard, but she was also realizing that she would NOT be able to go into research of Microbiology as she had wanted. Researchers stayed in the same place for many years usually, and a young looking one that does not age would draw too much attention. Leaving every five to seven years would not look good on her resume, and that would have to change everytime making her look like a newly graduated researcher, which would also mean she would never be doing any more then the scut work that newbies always did. AND if she did discover something that would draw more attention then she could afford. She had thought about teaching but for many of the same reasons that was out now as well. She was getting a little depressed about it all-all the plans she had ever made were going up in smoke. What would she do that would occupy her enough not to get into a rut-which would also be a bad thing as that could end up making her get careless about the game and then ending up a head shorter. She decided she needed to talk to both Adam and Duncan about this- they clearly had a lot more experience about this sort of thing.

Liz had just settled into bed back in her room and managed to convince her mother and father that she was fine and they did not need to fuss about her. She just wanted to relax back in familiar surroundings and rest. That did make them leave, with promises to check on her now and then. She tried to make them realize that that would not be every 15 minutes or so. They promised, but she had her doubts. She waited for a few minutes then dug out her diary from its hiding place under a loose board in her closet. She had been keeping a diary since she was 10 and put down everything in it. She had just picked up her pencil to start updating it when it hit her= she could no longer put down EVERYTHING. Anything that hinted at Immortality would have to be left out and her cover story left in. That, almost as much as anything else, really brought Liz to where she finally realized just how much her life had changed, and how much more complicated it had become. She was also now realizing just why immortals from all accounts were generally loners. Just how much could you trust anyone that had a motive for wanting you dead? As for mortals, they would notice you did not age in a few years. And watching friends and maybe loved ones grow old, get sick and die just had to be torture. Liz hated the thought of watching Maria and Alex get old, and fade away; or get sick and die.

She knew that she would be long gone from Roswell before that ever occurred, and she was still determined to tell them, but that would not change the basic truth that as long as she kept her head, she could live for centuries. While they would not. The unfairness of it all got to her, and slowly tears wound down her face as the bitter truth of her existence slowly surrounded and consumed her.  
Just then a knock on her door came and her mother poked her head in.  
"I know we promised to not bother you but Maria is here. Do you want to see her or are you too tired?" Luckily Liz had quickly wiped her face and in the relatively dim room (Liz only had on her night stand lamp) she did not see the tear streaks or red eyes.  
Liz for a minute wanted to just be alone, but at the same time realized that she had been going into a depression and that was NOT a good thing. And she just then decided that it was time to tell Maria. Maybe not the smartest thing to do but it was something she needed to do- she needed to be able to talk to her best friend about EVERYTHING.

"I am fine, mom, and I really want to be able to talk to Maria about the last couple of weeks and what has happened, and I really could not anywhere else but here."  
Nancy nodded and left.  
Liz took a deep breath and tried to decide how to go about this. She felt that Maria would need a lot of convincing and knew just how to do it.  
Maria opened the door and came in, seeing Liz sitting on the bed.  
"How are you Chicka- you know if you are tired just let me know and we can talk tomorrow."  
Liz smiled at Maria, once again thinking how lucky she was to have a friend like her. Now to prove just how much of a friend she considered her to be.  
"Sit down Maria = I have some really big news for you- as in humongous."  
Maria blinked at that- what in the world could Liz have to say that was that big?

Liz pulled up her shirt where the bandage was and slowly peeled it off.  
Maria leaned forward "Well is the scar that bad, I thought it was fairly small."  
Liz smiled at her as she finished taking the bandage off, showing the still red and somewhat angry looking scar. The Technician had left her with two- one like this and one that was a permanent type.  
Maria shrugged"chicka, its not that bad and it will fade. I mean you will not really be able to wear a bikini without people asking about it but then you don't like bikini's anyway,"  
Then Liz peeled off the scar, showing a completely unmarked and undamaged stomach. Maria's eyes widened until they took up her whole face as her jaw dropped and she blinked. Then shook her head and closed her eyes, opened them and looked again and closed them. Then she pinched her arm so hard she yelped. Then she looked again. At Liz's completely unmarked stomach.  
Liz knew that Maria was about to go off so she forestalled that by standing up and taking an unresisting and shocked best friend and went out the other door to her room out to the balcony that was on top of the second floor of the Crashdown, where in good weather Liz liked to sit outside and look at the stars.  
She then sat Maria down in her accustomed chair next to hers.

Maria slowly came out of her shock and stared at Liz.  
"What in HELL is going on, Liz?  
"I died that day at the hospital, Maria. Apparently the bullet shifted and nicked an artery and I bled out and died. A airhead nurse hooked up the monitor wrong and it did not sound an alarm. And I died. Only to come back to life again a couple of hours later. With no trace that anything every happened. And every scar I ever had is gone. Remember that time I cut myself when I was twelve on the leg- its gone too. And virtually nothing can kill me permanently. I can die, but I will almost always come back to life. And I will not age. I will look the same way as I do right now for as long as I live, which could be centuries or even millenniums. I am Immortal."

Maria just sat there and stared at Liz. Liz sighed- this was a little tougher then she thought it would be. So she decided to put on a little show. She went back into her room and pulled out the practice sword that she had hidden in her bag she brought back with her from the clinic. The balcony could not be seen from anywhere else since no building around the crashdown was any taller. She had convinced Duncan that she could practice her Kata's and sword movements there and no one would be any wiser. She went back out onto the balcony and Maria was still there staring at where Liz had been sitting.

Liz started her Kata, slowly at first then speeding it up until she was going full speed. She had just learned in the last few days how to do that and she realized it was almost becoming second nature. She stopped it at the end of the 15 minute routine, breathing a little heavier but nowhere near as exhausted as she used to be- her conditioning was beginning to kick in.  
Maria was totally dazed. Liz was an Immortal-whatever that meant. No wound, and she doing some kind of strange exercise or routine and she was getting faster and faster as the sword almost started to sing so fast was it moving. There was no way Liz had been injured- but Maria had seen the blood and had been sure her best friend had been dying. And even the Liz pre wound could not have done what she had just done.

Liz put down the sword and sat next to Maria. The color, or as near as she could see in the fading sunlight, had started to return to her face. At least she did not scream or faint, Liz thought.  
Maria slowly sat back in her chair, never taking her eyes off of Liz's face.  
"Liz I really do not know what to say. This is so big I cannot even get my brain around it."  
Liz grinned at her. "Maria without anything to say. Stop the presses- world wide scoop. Time to call a press conference."  
Maria narrowed her eyes at Liz. "OK chicka that is enough. No insults allowed tonight. I am entitled to at least one piercing scream and probably two to three rants. But at the moment I really am in shock."  
Liz sobered. While Maria was taking this better then she had hoped, she understood the shock part- she was a pro in that already.  
"If you think you are shocked, look at me. I woke up in the hospital feeling a lot better than anyone should feel only a few hours after being shot and almost dying. I feel so good that despite my better judgment I decide to unwrap my bandage since I am feeling literally no pain or discomfort anywhere at all. And what do I find? No wound. Not only no wound but the threads from my stitches are laying on the bandage- apparently falling out once I healed. I sat there thinking what nightmare was this- if anyone found out at best I am a circus side show and at worst I become a lab rat somewhere."

Maria shook her head. "Liz this is so bizarre but how did you know about immortals- did you have some kind of inkling or hint before this?"  
Liz shook her head now"Not a hint at all. I was sitting there trying to figure out how to get out without anyone finding out and could not think of anything except either just sneaking out or letting my parents know somehow- which would be fun right there in ICU with all the nurses and doctors wandering about. Then all of a sudden I get this terrible headache. Felt like a migraine must feel- like a knife right in my forhead."  
Forgetting her shock, Maria leaned forward, engrossed in her friends narrative. "OK, what was THAT all about?"  
Liz smiled. "That is when tall dark and handsome showed up."  
Maria jerked upright "WHAT?"  
He said "Look at me and the headache will go away. I did and it did. He then introduced himself as Duncan Mcleod, and now I was like him- an Immortal."  
Maria blinked. "An Immortal. Who just happened to be around?"  
Liz nodded. "By coincidence, or maybe my guardian angel working overtime, Duncan was in his car passing through Roswell after buying some antiques in El Paso= that is part of his cover, an antique dealer. He also owns and runs a gym and dojo in Seacover. He was passing through Roswell out of curiosity. The ambulance taking me to the hospital went right by him- and he could just barely tell that a pre immortal- one who has not had her or his first death- which is what kicks the whole thing off-had just passed him. I was lucky enough to get the attention of what is apparently one of the real good guys of the immortal community. So he turned right around and followed the ambulance to the hospital. And snuck in later one. If an immortal is old enough he can sense a pre immortals Quickening- it's the energy or power that heals us. It gets a lot stronger once we revive. And apparently I start out with one that is a lot stronger then normal."  
Maria fixated on that. "What do you mean a lot stronger then normal?"

Liz grimaced a little. Adam had been very forthcoming about that and how that made Liz very unusual and also was a threat to her- she felt alike a much more experienced immortal, or one a lot older and therefore had a quickening that the headhunters would want to get. His recounting of her operation to get the bullet out of her had really shook her up.  
"I revived in only a couple of hours. It usually takes 12-81, and can be as long as 24 hours. And when they operated on me at the Deming Clinic, I was healing so fast that the wound almost closed around the doctors hand and trapped it in my stomach. And five minutes after they stopped the anesthesia I was already coming around."  
Maria just stared at her, her mouth open again.  
Liz sighed- then decided more evidence was needed. She went back into her room and pulled out the small antique knife that Claudia had given her years ago and she used as a letter opener.  
She walked out to the balcony and showed Maria the knife, which of course she was familiar with. Then Liz used it to slice her hand open.  
That jolted Maria out of her daze to stand up and cry "Liz what are you doing"  
Liz held up her bleeding hand and Maria gasped.  
Blue sparks were arching across the knife slash that was healing as Maria stared at it. In less then a minute the wound was gone and there was no trace except for the blood.  
Maria blinked, shook her head, and then fainted.

Liz was able to wake up Maria after only a few minutes using some ammonia from the laundry room. Sputtering and coughing, Maria just blinked at Liz.  
"Please tell me I did not faint!"  
"Sorry but you did."  
"OK, but at least I had a good reason." "And that is."  
"My Best Friend is now immortal."  
"OK, sounds like a good reason."  
"Glad you agree. Now I need to find a place to scream and rant for the next 17 minutes."  
"Sorry no place like that around here. You are just going to have to cope."  
"Easy for you to say. You can wait for 500 years if you have to. My life span is a little shorter. And with shocks like this its probably going to be shorter yet." "Well its not all peaches and cream on this side. I will never age which means I will look as I am forever. And I just found out that Immortals cannot have children."  
"What! Why?"  
"Think about it Maria. How would you like to have children, then watch them get sick, get old, and die while you did not. I cannot think of many worse things to have to go through."  
"When you put it that way it does suck. But you always wanted to have kids one day Liz, so don't tell me it does not hurt like hell."  
"Of course it does but what good does it do to dwell on it. It's a fact and I have to live with it. Just like I will have to live with the fact that every 5-7 years I will have to leave wherever I am and move on."  
"Why?"  
"Because people will notice that I am not aging. And that could lead to other bad things like becoming a lab rat."  
"Oh. BUT there is makeup and things like that- in this day and age look what they can do on TV and in the movies. We just have to figure out how to do that so that no one notices it."

Liz sat back and thought about it. Maybe. But it would be hard to maintain such a image. Never leaving home without making sure you look older then you really look. Being careful to not let it get smudged or altered so someone notices.  
"I guess its possible but it would be pretty stressful and there is just so much you can do before it becomes kind of obvious and people start to get curious."  
"yeah but then you should be able to stay in places maybe 10-12 years instead of 5-7."  
Liz was cheered up by that possibility. Maybe things down the road did not need to be as bleak as she had thought.  
"Thanks Maria= I was really kind of down just before you got here. I know I can make it through high school and probably college, but my dream of being a microbiological researcher is over. Even if I could find a way to look 30 or so, I would still be so junior in any research institution that I would never be able to really get the projects that time would normally get to. And no matter where I moved I would have to start as a young researcher again, and they always do the scut work."

"OK, Chicka then you have to find a new dream. You can still go to Harvard if you want- you just have to find something else that you want to do afterwards."  
"Actually Harvard is probably no longer a good idea. TOO high profile a sheepskin. And that is something no Immortal can afford. I am probably better off going to New Mexico State, a fairly large campus in a very non descript university."  
Maria knew that Liz had always dreamed of going to Harvard and that was another dream that this immortal thing had just destroyed. It was sounding more and more that Liz had not exactly hit the jackpot of life here. And she had an idea that Liz was leaving something out, now that she had had a chance to sit down and start coming to grips with it. She looked at liz with a very searching eye that had Liz raising and eyebrow and asking" What now Maria, you are giving me the hairy eyeball and I want to know why?"

"I know you too well Liz. There is something and its something big that you are not telling me about the whole crazy Immortal thing."  
Liz leaned back with a sigh and thought about it. Was now the time to tell Maria about the Game. She sent a searching look back at her.  
"I know that look. You are trying to figure out if I will go off again when you tell me the next big thing about being Immortal- which I can guess is another big minus to the whole thing. More and more Liz this looks like a "gift" you should find a way to return."  
"I know Maria, but without this gift I would be dead and buried now."  
Maria sighed. And nodded. "Yeah."  
Liz decided that it was as good a time as any. Maria just folded her arms and sat back in her chair.  
"Let me have it Liz. Just spit it out."  
"OK. As far as I can find out Immortals have been around for thousands of years- maybe as much as 10,000 years-maybe more. No one knows for sure- not the immortals anyway. They think there maybe one as old as 5000, but no one is sure if this guy, supposedly called Methos, exists. I do know that there are some 2000 years old."  
Maria blinked and shook her head. "5000 years old. Imagine what he must have seen in all that time."  
Liz grimaced. "Yeah all the death and suffering and wondering around watching any mortals you know get old and die. Then move to the next place and go through the same."  
Maria looked at her friend closely. Liz appeared to be getting depressed again. This would not do.  
"For someone that loves science and seeing progress and such you are forgetting that you will be around to see us reach the stars and go beyond. You will someday get a chance to do that yourself."

Liz slowly nodded. She had not thought about that. Maria had a point. Maybe there were some plusses as well. Well time to let her know the real downside.  
"I wondered if they had been around so long and could not die why there were not tens of thousands of them around and why had they not become known. I had never heard of them no matter what crazy magazine or National Enquirer cover story you read. That is when Duncan told me about the game and what it meant."  
"The Game? What Game?"  
"Maria all immortals have a quickening- it's the energy that allows us to heal and revive. I appear to have an unusually strong quickening for a newbie. And there is one way for an Immortal to permanently die- if we lose our heads- decapitation."  
Maria made a horrid face. "Yuck. But I guess it makes sense – you cannot heal if your head is rolling around on the ground."  
"Guess what happens if another Immortal is around if you lose your head?"  
Maria looked at Liz closely. She had a nasty feeling the bad news was coming.  
"OK, chicka what happens?"  
"Your quickening goes to the immortal. I understand its like a lightning storm. And the more powerful the quickening the more the immortal gets high and gains strength to his quickening. He also gets the knowledge and wisdom of that immortal."  
Maria felt a big dred coming on. "So some immortals probably hunt others to get stronger and get high- right?"  
"Yeah. And that is not all. There is a long standing rumor, that has been around for as long as any immortal can remember, that in the end there will only be a few immortals left. They will feel a pull to assemble into what is called the Gathering- where the last of them will fight until only one will be left. That person will have all the quickening of all the immortals that have ever lived. The legend is that that will give that person the power to rule the world. That is what is called the Prize of the Game."

Maria blanched and her mouth dropped open. She shuddered. "Oh. My. God."  
"Yeah."  
Maria sat back and thought about it while Liz leaned back and looked at the stars. After a few minutes Maria sat up and looked at Liz.  
"Hey. What do you mean fight? Fight how? With What?"  
"Swords."  
"Swords?"  
"Yep. Swords. Still the best thing after all these centuries for taking off a head in a fight."  
Maria thought about that. "That means that you have to learn how to use a sword to defend yourself."  
Liz nodded= Maria was really getting into this and getting it all pretty quick.  
"I have already started to train and get stronger and Duncan gave me that wooden sword to use until he can get me a special one that he is having a master swordmaker in Japan make for me."  
Liz then showed the wrist and ankle weights that she had been wearing under her clothes for the past 10 days.  
"The new clinic has a special workout room that I will be using to train with Duncan. And I am going to become a member of a gym in town so that I can openly work out on my strength and endurance."  
Maria narrowed her eyes. "This Duncan Mcleod is sure doing a lot for you Liz. Are you sure you can trust him?"  
Liz nodded. "I have gotten a fair amount of information on him. He is a real Knight in Shining Armor- a real Boy Scout as some call him. I was real lucky in that the Immortal that found me is probably one of the best there is."  
Maria was curious. "Where did you get this information? Who knows about these Immortals if they are so secretive?"

Liz shrugged. "Duncan is hundreds of years old himself- I think around 400 or so. In all that time he has helped a lot of people, many of them mortal. And in some cases they have passed down quietly that information. So he has a fair number of people around the world that know of him and count on him as family. The Deming Clinic was one that he started and founded for people he knew. So all of them there know he was immortal. Just like they now know that I am immortal. There is also this guy named Adam Pierson who researches – quietly of course- Immortals. I have talked to him as well. The new clinic here in Roswell is also filled with people in the know. They are very careful to keep this quiet."  
Maria sat back and digested all this. "Well chicka one thing for sure. Your life is NEVER going to be boring- no matter what you think. Because you are a lot like this Duncan Mcleod. You are someone that just cannot help it – you will be a Girl Scout yourself for sure."

Max decided that since Liz was now home the next day he would try and see here. From what Maria had said she was up and around just not ready to do much more. He had no idea what he was going to say; he just knew he had to see her.  
Liz had managed to convince her parents that she did not need any special attention since she was healing so well. So they were not popping in on her every half hour or so. She went into the living room of the apartment and read a book, reassuring them that her life was getting back to normal (if they only knew, she thought).  
Maria had seemed to take the news of her immortality fairly well all things considered. Maria had laid it out that she had to tell Alex right away- it was not fair that Maria knew and he did not. Liz had promised before Maria left that she would do it either today or tomorrow. Liz figured that Alex would take it better then Maria did= probably would not faint anyway.  
She was figuring that since it was only 9AM that she would convince them that she had to go for therapy at the clinic around 11 or so; then again around 4. Jeff had made it a point that either He or Maria would drive Liz over there- no walking yet. Liz had agreed that she probably needed a day or two to be able to walk over there without tiring herself out (rolling her eyes).

Nancy was checking supplies by the counter when Max Evans came in and talked to Maria. Nancy heard him ask about Liz; and she turned and looked at him. Max Evans having a crush on Liz was not news to Nancy; she had seen it years ago. She wondered if Max would ever get up the nerve to actually get something started. She thought about that. She thought that while Kyle was nice enough that he was just not a good fit for Liz and was pleased that the breakup had been amicable. Max Evans just might be better for Liz; he was quiet and very intelligent, just like Liz. Nancy had never believed in the opposites attract and you are better of BS. Likes counted more in her book.

Maria came up to Nancy. "Mrs Parker, Max would like to see Liz. DO you think its OK?"  
Nancy thought about it some- why not? "OK, but only for a while- she needs her rest"  
She walked up to Max. "OK Max I will ask her if she wants to talk to you. If you do you will NOT stay for long- she has to go to therapy at 11 and I do not want her tired out before she even goes."  
Max was hopeful. "Mrs Parker if you need someone to take Liz to the clinic I can do that. Its not like I have much else to do."  
Nancy was touched= and not surprised. "I will talk to Jeff= it would help us some since without Liz we are a little short handed around here."  
Liz was surprised that Max had gotten up the nerve to actually try and talk to her alone. Maybe he was actually willing to do something about the crush he apparently had had on her for quite a while. At the least this should be interesting.  
Max walked up the stairs into the apartments above the Crashdown and knocked on the main door. Liz told him to come in. He found her sitting in an easy chair reading a book. She looked just fine- not pale or tired= she actually looked just like she did before the shooting.  
Max took a deep breath- then asked "How are you Liz?"  
Liz grinned at him. Seeing how nervous he was she realized that this was a big step for him and she should not take advantage of it to make him squirm. "Pretty good for being gut shot less then two weeks ago."  
Max blanched at that. "I wish I could have done more for you but I could not."  
Liz sobered. She was not going to let Max feel any guilt about anything.  
"Max you kept pressure on the wound until the paramedics arrived- who knows that might have just made the difference." Liz then thought about something and decided to risk a little bit.

"I think I remember you putting your hand on my stomach and it felt almost hot, really warm anyway. But I was pretty much out of it so that might have made a difference." She was watching Max closely while trying not to make it appear so and she definitely saw a reaction to that. SO there was something there after all- she had wondered after Adam had asked about that same thing that he had thought there might be a connection between that and her apparently supercharged quickening. So it looked like maybe Max Evans was not as normal as he appeared.  
Max was worried now. He had to get Liz off of that track- though he was relieved that apparently he had been able to make some difference after all. His healing only worked when the person was conscious or so he had always thought.  
"Well I just put pressure over the wound and maybe that made it feel like there was some heat there or something."

Liz nodded while thinking-Max you definitely thought that something more would happen- just who and what are you?  
Max then thought that a change of subject was BADLY needed.  
"Your mother seemed to be open to the thought of me taking you to your therapy session this morning- I do not start working at the UFO museum until 1 so there is no problem if I do it."  
Liz was actually touched a little by this. She smiled at Max.  
"Since they will not let me walk the few blocks there and I know they are shorthanded while I am out that actually would help. All you have to do is drop me off and then come back in an hour. I will be waiting."  
Max was relieved. Liz seemed to have lost interest in talking about the shooting (big surprise there).

Promptly at 11 Max was waiting downstairs and so was Liz. They got into the Jeep and it took only about a couple of minutes to get to the clinic. Liz leaned over towards him and said "Thanks for the ride Max- like I said wait an hour and be back and I will be waiting."  
Max nodded and then drove off. Liz went into the clinic to find Cynthia waiting for her.  
Cynthia had noted that Max Evans (she had gotten a rundown on him from Liz in one of their talks) had dropped her off. She looked at the door then at Liz and raised an eyebrow.  
Liz grinned at Cynthia, who she really liked and was beginning to count on as a real friend.  
"Yeah Max finally got off the pot and made – or at least is attempting to make- a move. It only took me nearly dying to get him that far."  
Cynthia chuckled at that. "Wonder what it will take to get him to ask you out on a date?"  
Liz shook her head. "God knows."

She then headed out the back door of the clinic to go in the side entrance to the workout room. Duncan was waiting for her with a package. She looked at it and he handed it to her. It was about the size of a shoe box and pretty heavy. She put it on the workout bench and opened it up. Inside she found more wrist and ankle weights- and she knew that these were heavier than the current ones. She grimaced at them and glared at Duncan. He grinned at her. "Since you will not for a while be able to work out as much as you have been, these will take up some of the slack."  
Liz sighed, She had just gotten used to the first set and now he was loading her up even more. But she had to concede he was right about her having less training time now. And she was well aware that she needed to increase her strength a great deal if she was to survive the game.

While Liz was being put through the paces (Duncan had gotten an extra wooden sword so that Liz could practice both there and at home) Methos was walking up to the clinic rear so that he could get into the workout room. He had been unable to find out any more about Max Evans= though he had found out that he apparently had never been sick and had never visited a doctor as far as he could find out= just like his sister. Methos was now looking to see if there was a way he could get close enough to her to see if she had the same faint signature that Max had. In the meantime he was going to see if Liz had been able to learn anything about Max herself- he had seen Max drive her up to the clinic so he knew that they had had some kind of conversation and Liz had seemed to think that finding out if Max had anything to do with her unusual quickening was a good idea.

Liz was matching Duncan move for move as he taught her the basic blocking moves of sword fighting. Since she had the Kata down quite well, he had decided to move into the basics of defense first. He was taking it fairly easy on her but the blows to the swords were still fairly jarring and Liz was getting a little tired after doing it for almost 20 minutes. So when Adam Pierson entered the room- both Duncan and Liz turning toward the door as the Buzz hit them- she took this as an opportunity to rest a little. Duncan frowned, but he thought that Liz had done pretty well and he had to remember that she was not really in condition to work out really hard. So he grinned at Methos and said" Well look at what the cat drug in. Adam Pierson the researcher. Curious about our new immortal right?" He was going to go along with the cover story just in case the Watchers had bugged the training room- which he had to think they had.  
Methos rolled his eyes at the Boy Scout. Duncan trying to be funny was always pretty sad.  
"I am curious of course. One does not get the chance to talk to one so new very often. The more data you get the better if you are a researcher. Liz and I can talk later. Please continue the workout= Its always fun to see someone else sweat."  
Liz glared at him. "And here I was thinking I could get a nice rest."  
Duncan shook his head. "Liz you need to continue the workout but I can see that you are not yet in the condition to really profit at too much more. Just continue the movements I just taught you here and at home. They MUST become second nature to you. These are just the basic block and parry moves. They will form the foundation of your defense. Now go and take your shower and then head over to the clinic. "  
Liz smiled at him and fairly bounced out the door-until he reminded her to take her new wrist and ankle weights with her- which got him a dirty glance as she left with the box.

Methos grinned at Duncan. "If looks could kill Duncan you would be beyond any immortal healing at this point."  
Duncan shook his head. "I am glad she gets the purpose but I forgot what it was like trying to teach a teenager- even one with a pretty level head on her shoulders. Trying to see to it that it stays there will not be easy for her. I never had a female student and I am beginning to see why not. Richie was a pain but Liz could be more of a challenge."  
Methos nodded. "It's a lot different with women than men; and add teenager to the mix always makes it worse. But she sees the need for it- a lot of that is just posturing and her need to try and go along with what is a pretty extraordinary situation for her and make it acceptable for herself." Duncan nodded towards the door. Methos nodded as well as they left the building. Both realizing that anything more they said to each other needed to be said outside.

Methos started it. "I was able to get close enough to Max Evans to feel a faint signature of something. Whatever it is I have never felt the like before. I have run into some psychic healers before but none of them had anything like that. I also found out that neither Max nor his sister has apparently ever been sick and have never visited a doctor as far as I can find out. And they were found wandering in the desert outside of Roswell at the age of six- and no trace of their family was ever found."  
Duncan looked thoughtful. " Interesting. Liz told me quietly that she talked to Max today and that when she mentioned him touching the wound and it feeling very warm, he definitely reacted to that and tried to change the subject."  
Methos nodded. Another piece to the puzzle.

So far, being home had been somewhat relaxing after all the training she had been doing the last few days, but Liz was starting to feel caged up. Having to appear once again to be healing from a major wound was hard to deal with after working so hard and being able to move around as she wanted. Luckily, her parents did seem to realize that she was healing quickly and had slacked off on the hovering and pampering that had started to drive Liz up the wall the first day. Maria had stopped by as often as she could, and that helped. Liz was surprised how well Maria was coping with the Immortal revelations—though Liz had a hunch that despite everything, it had still not sunken into Maria just how Liz had changed. Now for the next fun part: telling Alex. Maria had gotten a hold of him and told him to see Liz around 2 PM; that would give her more than an hour to talk to him before she had to get ready for her afternoon "therapy session."

Alex was a little puzzled by what Maria had told him. She wanted him to see Liz at around 2 PM, and that the talk would be pretty big and pretty wild. He had no idea what she was talking about. He had to think it had something to do with her injury—but she was clearly healing and getting better, so what could it be? Maybe Maria was over reacting as usual. He walked up the stairs after getting the high sign from Maria that Liz's parents were out. He knocked on the door and came in as Liz was waiting for him.

Liz was figuring that while it might be easier to talk to Alex about all this, he would almost certainly have a lot more questions that she probably did not have answers too—and maybe no one did. Well, here goes.

Alex saw that Liz was very nervous and yet very determined. He had never seen her like this, so his hunch that Maria might have been exaggerating did a full 180, and he wondered if maybe for once Maria was downplaying something.

"Alex, sit down and be prepared to have your world view knocked on its rear end."

Alex blinked then did as she had told him to.

Liz paced the room for a minute gathering her thoughts. Alex looked at her with growing worry.

"Come on, Liz, just spit it out. The way you are acting means it's really big, so let it go."

Liz turned and faced him.

"OK. I died that afternoon and came back to life as an Immortal."

Maybe that was not the way she wanted to do it, but there it was.

Alex sat there with his mouth open. "Whaaaaa?" was all he got out.

"The bullet in my stomach shifted and apparently nicked the right renal artery, and I bled to death. An airhead nurse hooked the ECG up wrong, so it did not sound off when my heart stopped. About two hours later, I woke up with no wound at all."  
Liz had taken off the fake scar just for this purpose. She raised her shirt and showed off her unmarked stomach to Alex.

"Not only was there no wound or scar, but the threads from the stitches were just laying there on the bandage. I felt fine with no after effects at all."

Alex was still sitting there but he had managed to close his mouth, and he leaned forward to look closer at Liz's stomach. He reached out a hand and hesitated, but when Liz nodded, he touched her stomach and felt the smooth, unbroken, unblemished skin. He then sat back and thought about it.

*OK, this is crazy. No way could that heal in less than two weeks, and then there WOULD be a scar. So Liz has got to be telling the truth as regards the healing. BUT Immortal?* He looked up at her face.

"The healing part is clear to see, but what is that about being Immortal? How do you know?"

"Right after I woke up and was trying to figure out what to do, I knew this could not get out, or I would end up a circus side show freak or being dissected in some lab somewhere. Suddenly, I felt a terrible headache—like someone had poked my forehead with a knife. I grabbed my head, and then I heard someone approach. He said, 'Look at me, and the pain will go away.' I did, and it did. The man is named Duncan McLeod, and he is immortal too."  
Alex considered this. "What was the headache about?"  
"All immortals have an energy in them that they call the Quickening. It heals them and lets them come back from all kinds of death except for one. Decapitation means permanent death for an immortal."  
Alex nodded. That made sense—cutting off the head just has to be something no one could recover from no matter what.  
Liz picked up her knife/letter opener and showed it to Alex. He looked at it and nodded. Then his eyes grew wider as Liz deliberately cut open her palm and showed it to him. He watched the blood drip, then diminish, and blue sparks cascade around the wound as it closed while he watched. In less than one minute, it was gone with no trace except the blood. He sat back again transfixed.  
"God, Liz, this is incredible. Did this Duncan McLeod have any explanation for how the Immortals have come to be?"  
Liz shook her head. "They think Immortals have been around for around 10,000 years at least—there is one that is supposed to be 5000 years old, but he is more of a legend to many. Duncan is around 400 or so. He mentioned that he has friends that one is over 1000 and another is over 2000."  
Alex goggled at that. "5000 years old? 2000 years old? This is mind-blowing!"

Liz smiled at him, glad to see he was taking it pretty well. "I told you this would change your world view. Imagine what it has done to me!"  
Alex narrowed his eyes and looked at Liz. He knew there had to be a catch somewhere, somehow.  
"OK Liz, this saved your life and will allow you to live a long time. I see a big BUT somewhere around though—there is always some kind of balance to nature and energy and everything else. So what are the downsides?"  
Liz looked at Alex sadly. He had gotten that right away. No flies on him.  
"For one, no Immortal can ever have children. Makes sense, not only for balance, but can you imagine having children and watching them get sick, get old and die while you do not?"  
Alex slowly nodded. Yeah that makes sense, but it certainly sucks for Liz. She would have been a great mother. And I know she had always wanted a family.  
He looked up at her again. "That is not all, right?"  
Liz nodded again. "Yeah, and this one is the biggie. Do you wonder why no one has ever brought this up in the National Enquirer or other rags like that—the same ones that harp on Aliens among us all the time? Or why, if there are new immortals all the time, there are not so many that the word got out somehow?"

Alex thought about that. That made sense as well. If immortals had been around for 10,000 years old why is only one that is supposedly a legend only 5000? And more and more of them would have seen to it that sooner or later word got out.  
"OK decapitation is the only thing that kills them, so clearly…" Alex paused. Then did some more thinking.  
"Someone or some group make it a point to find and kill them?" He asked.  
Liz shook her head. "Nope."  
Alex thought about it, and then his eyes widened. "They kill themselves and cut their heads off?"  
Liz nodded. "You got it. When you kill another immortal by cutting off his head, his energy, his quickening, goes to you. You gain his knowledge, and it strengthens your quickening. I understand it gets you high for a while as well."  
Alex blanched. "Ouch. I guess that explains why the bad ones go for headhunting. But if Immortals are psychologically like normal people, that should mean that only a small percentage of them are like that. Or is this quickening incredibly addicting?"

"I guess it is, but the real reason is the Game."  
"The Game?"  
"Legend has it that sometime—who knows when—new immortals will stop coming, and the battles between Immortals will escalate until only a few are left. They will form what is called the Gathering, and they will fight till only one is left. That person will have all the quickening of all immortals of all time. Enough power to rule the world, says the legend. That is the PRIZE of the GAME."  
As shocked as Alex had been about everything else, this was the kicker. Liz was involved in something that could possibly end up with someone ruling the world with absolute power. This was so far out that the whole Roswell Crash and Alien thing paled in comparison. And he never thought he would think that after living his whole life here.  
Liz decided to fill in some details for Alex.

"Since Duncan was passing by the Crashdown as I was being transported to the hospital, he was just barely able to pick up on my pre-immortal buzz—apparently you have to be at least several hundred years old to be able to do that. So he followed me into the hospital and just happened to be able to get to me not long after I woke up. He is the one that arranged for me to go to the Deming Clinic; he mostly supports it financially, and they all there know about Immortals. Over the time he has been immortal, he has been somewhat—and I get this from everyone who knows him—a real Knight in Shining Armor, a Boy Scout. He makes it a point to help out any new immortals he finds, and other mortals as well. I guess he has built up a lot of favors over the years that somehow get passed down the generations. So he can call on help a lot. He has started training me—the new clinic is where I go for that. He had the building modified so that there is a separate training room, but no one can get to from the Clinic."  
Alex raised an eyebrow. "What kind of training?"  
Liz looked right at him. "On how to defend myself with a sword and if necessary cut off someone's head."  
"Swords?"  
"Yep swords. The only quick and sure way to cut off someone's head, right?"  
"I guess. But can you do it Liz?"  
"If I want to survive, I will have to. I will try and avoid it, but that is the way it is. The only other alternative is just not acceptable to me."  
Alex looked at her. "What is the alternative?"  
Liz shook her head. "There are some Rules to the Game. It's by sword and person to person, though a few do cheat, but not many. But the real rule that no one no matter how evil will break is that there will never be a fight on hollowed or holy ground of any religion anywhere."

"Why is that?"  
"Duncan told me that two immortals fought on holy ground a long time ago. The result was Pompeii."  
"WHAT!"  
"Yeah. That is the legend, and it seems to be one that NO one will doubt. Holy ground is off limits for fighting. So I could join a convent as many have and be safe. NO WAY."  
Alex had to smile at that. Liz was not a noisy person by any means, certainly did not drink and party much, and so on, but her in a Convent just would not in any way ever happen.  
"Wow Liz, this is so far out there that I am hanging off the edge. Gonna have to do some thinking about that. Hey, how did Maria take it?"  
Liz smirked. "She fainted."  
"NO WAY! Did you get pictures?"

Methos had not been able to find anything more about Max Evans despite turning over every rock he could think of. He had thought back hard to all the psychic healers he had met over the millennia and was sure he had never felt any kind of buzz or inkling or anything like that from any of them like he had from Max. So that made Max unique—especially since Methos had never felt anything from another person like that no matter who or what they were. For someone who had a great deal of natural curiosity about the unusual (though he hid it very well), this was almost irresistible. He had long since realized that the key to his being able to cope with living for 5000 years was his ability to stay interested in the world and in life. If that had not been the case, he would never have survived his first 1000 years. So now he had a new puzzle to solve.

Duncan looked up at the entrance to the apartment as he felt the buzz that he had gradually over the years been able to identify as Methos. Usually, only very old immortals were able to tell one from another, but Duncan had shown in the past that he had more of a sensitivity to the buzz then most his age or older. He looked over at Joe who had come by that evening to talk about Liz Parker and her watcher. Joe would not have taken this step usually, but since he knew Duncan had already figured out who Liz's watcher was by now, he wanted to see what Duncan thought of Cynthia. Joe was more and more of the opinion that maybe Liz finding a way to keep them together might be best for all of them. It was a feeling than anything else, and he wanted to sound Duncan out on it.

Methos was a little surprised to see Joe there, and wondered what was going on. He knew that Joe visited Duncan on occasion at his Dojo in Seacouver, but since moving here in the last few days, he had been very busy getting used to the new place he would be running while Duncan was training Liz. Methos knew that Joe was under some pressure to back off a little bit from his relationship with Duncan, or at least to make it somewhat less obvious. And it was not like there weren't plenty of watchers around to report on him there at the clinic.

Duncan reached into the small refrigerator he kept in the apartment and handed Methos a beer; might as well do it right away, or Methos would bother him until he did. He sat back down and grinned at Joe who said, "Well, at least the first beer is not on me."

Methos ignored this and leaned forward towards Duncan. "I have been unable to find anything more out about Max Evans. There is nothing there that is unusual except for never going to a doctor and being found wandering in the desert at age 6 with his sister. And yet there is that faint something I feel every time I am close to him. I think I need to see if his sister tweaks me the same way, though it will be hard to get close to her since she seems to stay either at home or sometimes shops at the mall, and there is no pattern there since I have spent the last few days watching their home."

Joe looked at Methos with some surprise. He had not realized just how fascinated he was about figuring out Max Evans—curious, yes, but this went way beyond that. He had to think that the question of Liz Parkers unusually strong quickening had started him down that road, but finding Max Evans had interested him even more.  
Duncan was a little worried about Methos starting to stalk the Evans'. "Don't you think that is a little much right now. You really shouldn't be staking out someones' home in a relatively small community like this one. It will attract attention."  
Methos grimaced. "It is not staking out. I am careful, and I think I know how to not attract attention unlike some I could mention. But if Isabel Evans is like Max Evans, then that makes two people with the same buzz supposedly in the same family unlike anything I have ever come across before."

Joe sat back and pondered that. For Methos to put that out there, it was pretty big, and he had to admit that finding something like this after 5000 years was pretty interesting and could also possibly lead to answering some questions that Watchers had been asking themselves for centuries as regards just how unique Immortals were. For only one type of person of such extraordinary abilities to exist alongside normal people for thousands of years, that just did not make any kind of logical sense and ignored the scientific odds. Where you had one very different type, there not being other types just did not add up. The psychics like Cassandra and some others who were mortal had been indeed noted over the millennia by some watchers when they interacted with Immortals. But their abilities were usually quite limited in many respects. They certainly did not stack up as anywhere near the impact that immortals had on the way you looked at humanity. As regards healers and others with supposed unique abilities, there was very little that had been proven one way or another. Methos indicated that he had indeed met a few that he did consider real healers using only the power of the mind, but that had been a small handful over thousands of years. BUT even that was a lot compared to finding just ONE like Max Evans. Duncan had also been thinking about Max Evans and his possible impact on Liz Parker's quickening. But at the same time, he realized that keeping a low profile was the smart thing to do right now and hoped that Methos for once would listen to him. He doubted that would happen since Methos rarely missed an opportunity to remind Duncan just how young and inexperienced (and foolish and impulsive) he was compared to the ancient Immortal.

"You are a stranger in town and showing interest in some teenagers. That is not a great idea. And you ought to remember that the Sherriff here knows them quite well and would notice anyone nearby if he saw him more than once or twice. It's not like this has to be found out right now; we have time. For once, you are the one that is being impulsive and careless."  
Joe grinned at Methos. "Wonder how long Duncan has wanted to be able to say that to you?"  
Methos glared at Duncan. "The Boy Scout probably has been counting the days."

Duncan shook his head. "There is no reason to rush anything. And it would be a good idea to let everything settle down before starting an intensive investigation. Now I admit that I think that Max could very well have had an impact on Liz's quickening, but we also have to face the fact that it's much more likely he had nothing at all to do with it. We need to sit back and just think about things and make plans that are logical and NOT attract any unwarranted attention."

Methos smirked. "Duncan McLeod, the voice of reason and caution. Did not think I would ever live to see the day."  
"Well, I guess now you can say you have seen everything. So what is the point of continuing on?"  
Duncan snarked right back at him. Joe was quietly laughing to himself. It was usually pretty entertaining seeing Duncan and Methos go at it. Then he thought about what they were getting at.

"You two need to think about this. The Watchers are keeping a close eye on Liz and not just with her official watcher. They will possibly be watching Max as well for the time being. If they see Adam Pierson hanging around, they will start asking why. And if he starts following Isabel Evans around, that will make it worse. I think it would be a good idea for both of you to back off and keep a low profile for a while."

Duncan and Methos looked at each other then at Joe. Simultaneously, they shrugged and leaned back in their respective chairs.  
Joe looked at them and laughed out loud.

Methos left Duncan's apartment still determined to get close enough to Isabel Evans to see if she had the same faint buzz that her brother did. However, he had to admit to himself that the boy scout and Joe were correct in that it would not be a good idea to be seen hanging around any of the principals, but he could still accomplish what he wanted just by going to the mall and sitting outside of one of the trendier boutiques that young women seemed to frequent. He might have to wait for a couple of days, and it would be boring as all get out, but one thing he had learned the hard way over the last 5000 years is that sometimes patience is priceless.

Joe and Duncan in the meantime had gotten down to discussing Liz Parker's watcher. Duncan was very surprised that Joe was taking this step but realized that he would not be doing so if he was not really interested in Duncan's input. Still, Duncan asked him why this seemed to be so important that he had to ask.  
Joe pondered the question for a couple of minutes. He was surprised at himself to some extent in that he felt he needed to talk to Duncan, but he just had this niggling feeling that it was important that he get Duncan's input.

"I have had this feeling that it's important that Cynthia stay on as Liz's Watcher even after she leaves Roswell. I know that if that happens, there is no way that Liz would not figure out something is off if she keeps seeing Cynthia, and from all indications, Liz is the type of person who is very aware of her surroundings and would spot her sooner or later. I also know that it's quite likely that this question will not even come up for several years. I really don't know why I feel this way, but I do."

Duncan was very surprised at this. Joe was not the kind of man to go this route, with hunches and feelings and going against custom and tradition like that. Now of course, being friends with Duncan certainly tromped all over the Watchers millennia old customs of never letting Immortals know they were being watched, but that had really come about because of extraordinary circumstances, and really did not count. And once they knew each other, what was the point of trying to go back? In many ways, Joe was quite conservative and set in his ways; this was a true departure for him. So Duncan thought it over for a few minutes.

"Liz Parker is a very observant person; you are absolutely right that she would pick up Cynthia's presence pretty quickly and wonder why she was around. It would simply be a matter of time before she probably figured out most of the reason. She is much too sharp and logical not to work it out that if there have been immortals around for 10,000 years, SOMEONE would notice, and if there had never been anything really said or printed, then there is some kind of reason why. The reason would be that those that find out do not say anything—and that in itself begs the question why would that hold so well for so long? Then the next step is that someone or some organization is working to make sure that it is NOT known. And why is that? One question leads to another. But if you feel that it is important, then you have to accept that Liz will figure it out and know about the Watchers sooner or later. If she does, then actually it will make things simpler if Cynthia is her watcher since she is already a friend. Liz clearly treasures her friendships. And she will more so in the future since she inevitably loses them through either time, circumstance, or her having to move on. If you think tying Liz more closely into the watcher family is important for some reason, then it makes sense. Other than that it does not."

Joe slowly nodded. That pretty much fit in with what he had thought. And he still felt the same way. It was somehow important that Liz Parker and Cynthia somehow stay acquainted, and he could not for the life of him figure out why. And so he looked at Duncan and said, "Somehow, someway, for some reason, this is the way it needs to be. I have never let something like this really affect a decision I have ever made. So this is pretty strange for me."

Duncan leaned forward and fixed Joe with the gimlet eye.

"I was still very young when I first met Cassandra. She was incredibly beautiful and exotic, and I was smitten and totally bowled over by her. And even more so as she showed me her gifts as regards being psychic. So at a relatively young age, I got affected by powers that were seemingly magical in nature and so totally beyond my small experience that I was powerfully changed for the rest of my life. So maybe in some ways, I am a little more open to extreme possibilities. Still in many ways, I am a Highland Scot—conservative and careful and skeptical. I have tried not to let hunches and feelings change the way I reason and think and make me go out on a limb if there is no logical reason to. Yet, I have done so on occasion, so I cannot discount it completely. I have always felt that I needed to do all I could for every young immortal I have come across, and every pre immortal as well. Some call me a boy scout, and honestly, I do not object to that. It's a fine thing to be, frankly. But that need—calling—whatever—to do this has always been with me. If you truly believe that you need to do this, then I will certainly not try and talk you out of it."

Isabel Evans felt a need for some therapeutic shopping. Max was going to try and date Liz Parker, and there was nothing that either she or Michael were going to be able to do about it. She felt that it would not come to a good end and probably force her and her cohorts to go on the run sooner or later. It was not that she thought Liz would be personally any kind of a threat; even to herself she admitted that Liz was a good person and would never deliberately harm anyone. Still, she was a very smart and observant person, and sooner or later, Max would do something that would bring out Ms. Scientist. And that was a threat no matter how well-intentioned or innocent. They could not stand close scrutiny over time. Even though they tried to hide their powers, on occasion they used them without thinking, and anyone closely watching would notice. And one problem with Liz Parker is that Maria DeLuca was her best friend, and there was no way that scatter-brained ditz would ever be able to keep a secret to save her life. And it was well known that sooner or later, Liz told Maria everything. Still, a very small part of her deep down envied Max the courage of trying to make a connection outside of their very small circle... to try and have some kind of life... to have more then what they had now.

Methos had been sitting in the mall for several hours—occasionally moving around to not attract too much attention, and also making sure that he did not seem to be watching any particular store. His patience was rewarded as he spotted Isabel Evans heading towards the boutique. He promptly got up and walked away as she walked into the store. He moved down the mall and occupied himself with a jewelry store and checking out rings with a salesclerk while keeping an eye on the boutique, which fortunately had a fairly open front. After about 20 minutes, he left the jewelry store with a small relatively inexpensive ring just as Isabel Evans had just bought something and was leaving the boutique. Methos was able to fairly quickly pass right by her and catch the exact same faint buzz that Max Evans had. Isabel Evans never even noticed him.

Michael had caught a ride with Max and Isabel to the mall. Normally, he would avoid it like a plague, but he had to check out the department store which had had a sale on clothes. His status as an emancipated minor meant that he was on a pretty strict budget. His job at a local gas station barely paid his bills, so he had to scrimp and save as much as he could. He had noticed that the Crashdown was wanting another short order cook and was willing to train, and he had thought about it; since Max was determined to try and date Liz Parker, he felt that he needed to be around to at least try and restrain him. Not to mention the Crashdown would pay better. He was still mulling that over when he almost collided with a man walking quickly through the mall. He mumbled a sorry and moved towards the department store.

Methos was stunned. The young man he had almost run into had the same faint buzz as Max and Isabel Evans. He went over and sat down on a bench while, from the corner of his eye, he saw the teenager go into the department store. He had to find out who this was. This was getting extremely strange even for a 5000 year old immortal.

Max was sitting in the food court nursing a drink. He had nothing to shop for and knew that Isabel would be at least an hour going the rounds. Michael would not take long to do what he needed to do and would meet him there. So far he had been able to take Liz to the clinic three times for her therapy and bring her back. She seemed to be doing very well, and he really did not see why she needed to keep going. But he did not object since it gave him time to get to know her. And it was almost everything he had ever hoped for. Liz was sweet and funny and could be startlingly sharp and observant. So he knew that in some respects, Isabel and Michael were right about what kind of threat she COULD be. But Max had always somehow known that deep down, Liz Parker was as good a person as he would ever meet. And every minute he spent with her just reinforced that. And he knew that someday he would tell Liz his secret. It was just a matter of time. He thought that Liz was starting to like him more, but whether it would lead to where he hoped it would was still an open question. Luckily her parents seemed to like him—Jeff for one had made it clear that Max trying to save Liz and going right to her while everyone else was ducking for cover had made a big impression on him, even though he had not been there to see it. Maria had been very forthright on her graphic description of the events of that day.

Methos was able to follow the teen down the mall without him noticing—it was getting towards evening, and the crowd there had been getting heavier. He was stunned when he went into the food court and sat next to Max Evans. Who was this kid? Nothing in his background checks on the Evans had mentioned anyone else. The Evans had adopted Max and Isabel after finding them in the desert wandering around, and no one had ever come forward to claim them, and no information had ever been found out about their origins. Certainly nothing about a third teen. He was going to have to dig deeper since from all appearances they were of the same age. What was going on here? In 5000 years, he had never run into anyone like them, and now three of them inside of a week. 


	3. Chapter 3

One night almost a month after the shooting, Liz was practicing her Kata in preparation for working through the new defensive parries that Duncan had taught her when she felt the Buzz of another Immortal nearby. She stopped, moved towards the edge of her balcony above the Crashdown ,and looked down the fire escape into the alley. Looking up at her from the street was Adam Pierson. He cocked his head inquiringly; she shrugged and nodded. He then climbed the fire escape up to her balcony. Liz took her practice sword and hid it in the spot she had made behind some pieces of loose siding. She then sat down in her chair and waited for Adam to make it up to her. They had not talked much after the first couple of weeks, and she was not really sure why he wanted to talk to her now.

As he climbed up the stairs, Methos was trying to figure out how to ask the questions he had to ask as well as give the information he wanted Liz to know without her asking some probing questions of her own that would be uncomfortable to answer. *One would think after 5000 years you would not have to search for words or usage to do what you need to do,* he thought. *Just goes to show that experience is not everything.*

Cynthia lowered the binoculars that she had been using from a few blocks away and put down a few notes in Liz Parker's chronicle. Due to where the Crashdown was located and the fact that there were no buildings close that were more than one story tall, this was the best position to see what Liz Parker did on her balcony. The problem with the location was that it was too far away for even parabolic microphones to pick up any conversation. Watcher custom and tradition was that while they would use such items, they did NOT place listening devices in the homes of Immortals, nor did they tap phones, or put in surveillance cameras. As her instructor had said at the academy, "We are Watchers not peeping toms, and immortals have the right to some privacy." She wondered what Adam Pierson wanted to talk to Liz Parker about. She shrugged. She would ask him tomorrow.

Methos sat down next to Liz after giving her a searching glance. She seemed to be pretty calm and unsurprised at seeing him.  
"You do not seem all that surprised that I am here."  
Liz shrugged. "I figured that you had come up with some more questions or had something to tell me that you wanted to make sure no one else overheard."  
Methos decided that some candor was in his best interests.  
"I need some information and decided that you would be the best source."  
Liz raised an eyebrow at that.  
Methos grinned at her. "What do you know about Michael Guerin, the teenager who just started working as a short order cook at the Crashdown?"  
That got both eyebrows up.  
It had taken a little time for Methos to come up with the unknown teen's name, and he had found out that he was an emancipated minor who had been found wandering in the desert at the same time as Max and Isabel Evans. And like them, no trace of his parents had ever been found. Unfortunately for him, he was not adopted by a good family like Max and Isabel had been. The details of that were all too often found in the jumble that was the so called child protection system—in this case, it had failed badly. An abusive adopted father had finally been found out, and Michael was emancipated just a year ago. Outside of being friends with Max and Isabel (and what that was, was also a mystery), he was a total loaner. A non-descript student, he only stayed in school due to a condition of his status.

Liz thought about the question. Not that she knew him that well.  
"Not a whole lot more then I bet you have found out. He is sometimes called Stonewall Guerin since he never lets anyone in other then Max Evans. You might notice he is actually pretty good looking, so a few girls have tried, and he has shown no interest at all. Moody and non-communicative, he seems bent on sliding through life making as little a wake as possible. He is not unpleasant or actually rude, just doesn't seem to have an interest in talking to people or having much to do with them at all." Methos nodded. Liz was, as he had thought from the beginning, very observant, and he was surprised at how well she seemed to sum up the boy. From all he had seen, she was dead on about Guerin. Well now to see if she had picked up on anything about Max Evans. Methos still had not found out anything else new on Max or Isabel.

"Have you noticed anything unusual about Max Evans?"  
Liz shook her head. "Not that I can tell. Why?"  
"I can pick up something that is very faint from him, Isabel and Guerin. It's not like the buzz of an immortal, but there is certainly something there. I have never ever felt it from anyone else."  
The dormant scientist in Liz Parker promptly woke up. After working hard the first week or so that she was immortal, that part of Liz had gone back to sleep when it became apparent that answers would not be forthcoming to the questions Ms. Scientist had asked.  
"I get nothing from any of them—but then, supposedly, I shouldn't considering how new I am. So just how old are you? I can tell that you are older than Duncan by a wide margin, but just how much older are you. If you can sense something that faint, you are getting up there pretty well."

Methos decided that a little more candor was in order. Not a lot, just some.  
"I am a few thousand years old, just how old I am not sure of. Even though I have been able to keep a low profile in the game, that much age really helps you get sensitive to the world around you. I have met some psychic healers, and a plain psychic or two, and NONE of them ever had any kind of a buzz. And that leads to another question: You thought that right after the shooting when Max put his hand on your wound, it felt hot—that is usually what happens when a psychic healer heals. There is almost always heat generated at the wound."  
Liz pondered this. She had thought she had felt heat then, but had never been sure that it was true or just a product of the situation. Could that be the reason behind her unexpectedly strong Quickening and her very fast revival? Max had perhaps given her a boost somehow. She was just beginning to get to know him, and beginning to really like him. Could he somehow be intertwined in her Immortal world?

Maria made her way up the stairs to see Liz. Since she had gone back to work the previous week, they had not had a lot of time to talk about her "situation". And Maria was curious how things were going with Max. AND she wanted to vent somewhat about Stonewall Guerin. He was totally infuriating!  
It was time for some girl to girl talk and a chance for both of them to let their hair down and let off some steam. Which was another reason she was toting two pints of rocky road ice cream.  
Liz heard someone coming and quickly motioned Adam to hide. He lightly moved over to the far side of the balcony where a narrow walkway went around to the back. He had just gotten out of sight when Maria DeLuca came out the window onto the balcony.  
"Chica, I come bearing ice cream and some time to converse!"  
Liz grinned at her. Despite Adam being just around the corner, she was looking forward to this.  
"So Maria, I guess you have come to let your hair down and complain some more about Stonewall Guerin?"  
"Got it in one, Chica. He is getting real close to getting the DeLuca treatment for unwanted growths."  
"Is Mount St. Maria about to erupt?"  
"Not far off. A fair amount of smoke and fire is on its way."  
"Did you ever think that maybe he is doing it just to get a rise out of you?"  
"Come on Liz even for someone as socially undeveloped as he is, that is a reach."  
"Maybe that is how he gets his jollies."  
"Liz Parker!"  
"Why not? Unless he is really warm for your form and thinks this is a good way to get you fixated on him—which by the way seems to be working. You are always talking about him. I think someone here has some interest…"

"Shut up, and eat your ice cream."

Methos quietly slipped down the side of the building to the alley. He really had no interest in what was to come, but he also chuckled. Liz Parker actually had a sarcastic streak to her that she seemed to be able to hide from all but her closest friends.  
Liz felt Adam's buzz fade away and relaxed a little. It would have been awkward knowing he was right there and listening in.  
Maria had finished almost half her ice cream and had settled down to ask some more questions she had come up with about Liz's "condition".  
"So how is the training going? I notice that you are spending more time at that gym you joined, and I know you have been sneaking off to the clinic every evening as well."  
Liz nodded to herself. Many thought that Maria DeLuca was an air headed ditz, but Liz had long known a lot better. Not much ever got by Maria.  
"I have been lucky in that Dad and Mom bought it when I said I realized that I liked to work out after all the physical therapy I was supposedly doing. It did sound logical—sometimes you find out you like something you never thought you would once you started doing it. So joining the gym and working out once a day just seems normal to them now. Luckily, I recover quickly from any sprains or muscle problems, so I can push myself a fair amount. Of course Duncan does a lot of that anyway."  
"So how does he think you are doing?"  
"He seems pretty satisfied. I am now able to really work the weighted practice sword—having those wrist and ankle weights on along with the rest of the workouts have really helped my endurance, and I have found I'm a lot stronger now."  
"The way you moved the soda machine the other day proved that, Chica. It's a good thing no one else was around to see that though."  
Liz grimaced. That had NOT been a smart thing to do—she had decided that the Soda Machine needed to be moved and had done it herself—and since it weighed over two hundred pounds, her just easily pushing it around would have at the very least raised eyebrows, if not spurred actual questions.  
"I know that was NOT a smart move, and I will not do it again. Sometimes I forget that I am so different now…" Liz trailed off.  
A little worried Maria moved over and gave Liz a hug. "Look on the bright side, Chica—never having to worry about laugh lines and grey hair and sagging boobs."  
Laughing, the two friends watched the stars and ate their ice cream.

Two months after the shooting, Duncan McLeod was assessing Liz Parker's progress and finding that he had very little to criticize. She had greatly increased her strength and endurance, and had mastered the basics of defensive and offensive sword play. She had changed little in her outward appearance—only a close look would detect the stronger arms and somewhat sturdier frame. He had steadily increased the weight that she wore on her arms and ankles, and she had taken to running 5 miles a day while also working out for 2 hours a day. They spent at least one and usually two hours a day working on her hand to hand skills which were the only area that Liz still needed a lot of work on. This should come as no surprise since she had never done anything like that, and even the basics of any martial arts discipline takes time to learn, let alone the actual offensive and defensive moves. But now she would get the final piece needed to really prepare to defend herself in the Game: her sword. The somewhat cut-down Katana had arrived only that morning with the master swordmaker's note with it.

"Duncan, I rarely praise myself as that would be counter to all I have been taught and believe, but in this case, I truly believe that I have never done better work in all my life and probably will not in this or my next life. I hope your student is worthy of it."

He took out the Katana and walked down the stairs to the training room. While somewhat shorter than his, the difference was small, and yet it was much lighter. The balance was superb—the grip too small for his hands was just right for Liz's. He'd made a mold of her hands and sent it to Japan so that the grip would fit just right. He went through his Kata, and felt the blade sing—this was indeed a superb sword. After hundreds of years, one could tell. With one hand or two, it would perform very well indeed. All it wanted was someone good enough to wield it.

Liz Parker walked into the training room from the alley and immediately felt the buzz of an immortal—she thought it was Duncan's, but she still could only tell the difference when she felt Adams. Of course, that really should come as no surprise since he was indeed a great deal older then Duncan—and she had only ever felt two buzz's anyway. Duncan was in the training room working through his Kata with his sword—NO, that was NOT his sword. Her eyes widened—had hers finally arrived?  
Duncan had felt Liz's quickening coming in the door—he had been a little surprised that he could tell the difference from other immortals but Liz's quickening over the months had become quite familiar—of course it was nowhere near as strong as Methos', but still stronger then a newbie's should be, and it seemed to have a bit of an edge on it. Methos had agreed that her buzz did seem that way.  
He turned towards Liz and gripped the sword halfway down the blade and offered it to her. Her eyes widened as she carefully took the blade by the grip and then positioned both hands on it in the classic style. Duncan moved to the side as she almost unconsciously began her Kata.

Later that night, Liz was once again practicing her Kata with her new sword. It was almost as if she could not set it down—it seemed to call to her.  
From her post, Cynthia watched Liz Parker do her Kata with her sword; this was the first time she had seen Liz with anything other than a practice sword. Her movements graceful and controlled, she seemed to flow through the exercise. And that is exactly what Cynthia put down in Liz Parker's chronicle on her first day with her sword.

Alex had decided that he needed to speak to Liz; they had not really had a long conversation since she had told him about her immortality. He had quietly tried to find out if there was anything out there on Immortals, and had found virtually nothing. A few vague rumors on way-out-there sites, but nothing more. And even those rumors seemed to be wrong or at the very least NOT about Liz's type. They mentioned nothing about combat with swords, or a game, or a prize.  
He stopped by the fire escape that led to Liz's balcony; looking around to make sure no one was watching, he quietly went up. As he popped his head over the top he saw Liz practicing with her sword… NO, that was not her wooden practice sword—it was the real thing. Alex knew that Liz had been impatiently waiting for it to get here from Japan, having grown tired of practice swords. Obviously it had arrived, and Liz had left no moss on the stone getting it and working with it.

Lost in the flow, Liz moved and swung and danced with her sword. To Alex it was a beautiful dance laced with danger, for in the end, Liz would be dancing with others, and it would be to the death.

Liz finished her Kata and finally noticed Alex just at the top of the fire escape. Breathing a little heavily, she took her sword and wrapped it in its cloth and carefully hid it next to her practice sword in the side wall of her balcony.  
Alex came the rest of the way up and over and sat down next to Liz.  
"I take it it just came today?"  
"Yeah—I was a little surprised since Duncan did not think it would come for a few more weeks. But the swordmaker really put in some overtime on it and got it to him sooner than he had thought. This was the second Kata I have done with it already, and it feels like a part of my arm now. Duncan was very impressed with its quality—the swordmaker sent a note with it that Duncan let me read. In it the swordmaker stated that he thinks this is the best work he has ever done. He made Duncan's Katana, and it is a great one, but I think this one is better. The grip fits in my hand perfectly, and the blade is so well balanced that I think I could center it with a hair. I could not ask for better."

Alex thought about that. Liz seemed almost high from getting her sword and working out with it—maybe the real purpose of it had slipped her mind. He looked at her and was about to say something when she held up her hand, and the look in her eye would have stopped him anyway.  
Liz had seen the look on Alex's face when she went on about the sword, and it really was not hard to figure out what was worrying him.  
"Yes, I love this sword already and will treasure it. AND I am very aware that, more than likely, in less than a year, I will be cleaning blood off of it, thinking of the person I had just killed with it. But that is better than the alternative; someone else cleaning off their sword and thinking about MY head that it had just taken."

Alex gulped and shuddered a little at Liz Parker's cool and calm statement. He would have never thought that she would be capable of such; just another example of the changes that she had been through over the last 2 months. To Alex, who had known Liz from first grade, the changes in her physically were quite clear—her arms were much firmer, she was definitely more solid, and her legs stronger as well. She moved with more grace, and at the same time, a studied intent. He had seen videos of feline predators moving through jungle and forest, and Liz now resembled them—beautiful and deadly. The fact that he knew that she was indeed training every day to be able to kill was something that he had tried not to think about. But more than the physical changes, it was the mental and emotional changes that worried him; Liz had gotten quieter and more intent, more focused and determined. He was a little surprised that no one had commented on it since school had started the week before—but then only Maria and himself were really close to Liz… well them and of course Max. But then Max was so caught up in actually being able to date his dream girl that Alex doubted that he had really seen the changes at all. And since he had not really known Liz before the shooting, he probably would not have noticed anyway.

Alex would have been surprised, but Max had indeed noticed the changes Liz Parker was going through. He had understood when Liz had told him that she wanted to be more prepared and able to defend herself better after what had happened, that was only natural. For someone of the logical and scientific mind bent that she had, it made sense. He was surprised how determined she was and how much time she was willing to spend to do it. Even now with school, she was still using at least 2 hours a night to work out and learn martial arts. She had found an instructor, a Duncan McLeod, who was willing to give lessons, and there just happened to be a training room located in the same building as the clinic she had been in. She had told him that she would be spending at least the rest of the year doing this, and maybe more. Max was a little worried about her seeming obsession, but then again, he had not been through what she had; so who was he to criticize it? On the other hand, she was very open with him about her training and why, and seemed to have no problem talking to him about it. Max was quite happy with the way things were going. Liz was a lot of fun actually when she let herself have some, and he felt it was up to him to try and get her to have as much fun as possible. It never occurred to him that she thought that it was also up to her to loosen him up as well.

Duncan listened to Joe singing an old Blues song and working his guitar softly. Methos was sitting next to him with his inevitable beer (as usual he was running up quite a tab here in Roswell), and enjoying the performance as well. It was fairly late, and they were the only ones left in the Café. Joe had decided to shorten the hours somewhat since they rarely had much business during the week after 10. It was very relaxing, and Duncan had found that he liked living in Roswell. It was really a very quiet community and a very big change from Seacouver, and certainly a huge change from Paris. After the hectic last few years, it felt pretty good doing very little and being out of the usual rapid pace that had typified the last ten years of his life. He knew that it would someday pall on him, and he would need more and leave, but for the time being, he was quite content. Richie was doing well, and he had Charlie there to keep an eye on him, so that was not a problem. He admitted that he missed Amanda more then he wanted too, but she was apparently very occupied (according to Joe, anyway) with a new student she had found, someone who apparently reminded Amanda of herself when Rebecca first found her. Methos, Joe, and he all agreed that this was probably a good thing. His student, meanwhile, was doing very well, and he was pretty satisfied there.

Joe finished and walked over to where Duncan and Methos were sitting and sat down himself. He had just had Sam (who had decided to come out as well to Roswell) turn off the outside lights and lock the door. This got both Duncan's and Methos's attention—Joe clearly wanted to talk to them without being overheard.  
Joe was a little uncertain about this, but having gotten to know Liz Parker some (she had talked to him a few times since he had let her know he knew about Immortals as a friend to Duncan), he frankly had no compunction about further bending the watcher rules.

"Duncan, do you remember Felicia Rising?"

Duncan sat back with a start. He had not thought of her for over 50 years.  
Methos raised an eyebrow. Duncan's reaction said a lot.  
"I take it that is one female not prone to the Highlanders Charm?"  
Duncan glared at Methos. "I found her as a new immortal in 1946 in England. One of the last V2 hits in London had hit her flat and she was killed and then revived. I arranged for her to be trained by Vicki Manning, whom I had known since I met her during Victoria's last year. She was a troubled girl even then, and I later heard that she had become a headhunter. I only spent a little time with her then; I have always wondered if she would not have gone bad had I stayed around."

Methos rolled his eyes. Trust the Boy Scout to think it was his fault. "Not everything is either your fault, or your responsibility. She chose the path she is on now. I take it this is not just for scholastic study, Joe?"  
Joe shook his head. "I got a call today from Europe, Budapest specifically. Apparently, she has taken to trying to find newbie female immortals and getting cheap quickenings."  
Duncan stiffened. He could see where this was going.  
Joe looked at Duncan and nodded. "She apparently has been working at schmoozing some immortals who tend to keep track of the major players like you Duncan. Ever since you took out one of the Horsemen, Kahlas, you have been on the radar screen of the big time. Much like your cousin Connor after he took down the Kurgan. Word has gotten around that you have found, and for the first time are training, a female immortal. The good news is that no one knows where you are. It's known that you are NOT in either Seacouver or Paris, but no one has a clue where you are. But the tip I got from her watcher is that she knows you have one and wants her head. That surprises me some since she has to know that if she takes Liz's head, you will take hers, and there is no way she is crazy enough to think she has a chance against you."

Methos shook his head. "She must have a plan of some kind to deal with Duncan, unless she has just gone insane. There is no sign that she is working with anyone?"  
Joe shook his head. "From what her watcher has to say, she is still a complete loner. She has never worked with anyone either mortal or immortal."  
Duncan pondered this. "She was intelligent and observant—not as good at either as Liz is, but still no dummy. She is a little taller than Liz, but unless she has changed, Liz is stronger and quicker. Of course, there is the experience factor which cannot be underestimated. What is the count on her head total, Joe?"

Joe grimaced at this question, but since he had gone this far, he might as well go all the way.  
"43 heads in 65 years. But none of them were more then 20 or 30 years old and most of them only a few. She is pretty quick and deadly, but she has never come up against a real pro."  
Methos had been going over all this in his head. "If Liz has a few more months to practice and get ready, I think she should be able to win. Do you have any idea how long it will take for her to find Duncan?"  
"Not a clue. Who knows you are here, Duncan?"  
"Only Richie and Charlie. No one else. I have been keeping a low profile and have not contacted anyone else since I have been here. Not even Connor."

"Well that is good. She will have to go to Seacouver, and then try and find out where you went from there. You will need to let Richie know so that he can warn Charlie. She is quite ruthless and would have no compunction trying to force it out of them."  
"She would then have to fight me before she fought Liz—I would avenge anything done to them, and she must know that."  
Methos was still of the opinion that she had some kind of plan. There was no other way she would be forcing a confrontation with Duncan like this. "Your watcher is missing something, Joe. She HAS to be working with someone, or this is a pure suicide run."

Duncan then had a nasty thought. "Joe, the watcher for Felicia... How long has she been on the job?"  
Joe was a little startled by the question but answered it anyway. "About 10 years. She was recommended by her successor, who retired."  
Duncan knew this was a very sensitive subject but he needed to know.  
Methos beat him to it. "The boy scout thinks her watcher might be involved with the Hunters—only this way, she is helping Felicia to hunt. Just like her successor did."  
Joe reared back in shock. Over the last 5 years, the Watchers had left no stone unturned to find any remaining hunters or their sympathizers. There had been no connection found there….

But what if she had NOT had any connection with the hunters, but only was helping Felicia hunt…

Felicia had had a rather surprising amount of success finding newbie female immortals.  
Joe grimly said. "This might be true. No connection to the Hunters but still being involved. And from what I remember, the stats for Felicia had neither risen nor fallen since her new watcher took over. That might mean something, or it might mean nothing. One thing Duncan, only the very highly placed in the Watchers know you are here—the council and the head of Research. Felicia's watcher and her retired watcher would not have the clearance for that information."  
Duncan grimly pointed out that that did not mean they had not found out a way to get around that.  
Joe had to agree.

Duncan felt the Buzz as the door below his apartment opened, and he knew that Liz had arrived. She was always very punctual, never being late.  
Joe, Methos, and he had talked deep into the previous night about the situation with Felicia Rising. A few phone calls and some careful hacking on the part of the council had uncovered some evidence that their hunch about Felicia's Watcher might just be right. Her previous watcher was also under the microscope by the Watchers, and some of the same indications had turned up there, as well. It was not conclusive, but more and more, it was beginning to look like for at least 20 years before she retired that the first watcher had indeed made many more inquiries than others about other Immortals. And many of them had been on new female immortals. After learning this, Joe shook his head. THAT should have been caught by her supervisor; watchers are not supposed to concentrate on any other immortal but their own. That steady trend of asking about others should have been spotted and, at the very least, questioned. The supervisor in question had been one of the Watchers killed in the hunter mess. They had tried to seize control of the council and had killed several of the council members. He had had no connection or sympathy for the hunters, but it looked like he had not been very good at keeping an eye on the Watchers under him. He was too busy politicking and moving up the ladder. All the chronicles for the newbies Felicia had killed were being looked over to see if there was some kind of trend. This would take a few days at least. To say that the Council was disturbed about this was to say the Pacific Ocean was wide.

One thing that had yet to be determined, if the evidence and signs were to be believed, is why this had happened. Why had the Watcher decided to start helping out Felicia in finding and killing newbie female immortals? The Hunters had wanted all Immortals destroyed, considering them an abomination. At the time, Joe had said that it seemed like the Nazi/Jewish situation during WW2; unreasoning hatred for someone different. Horrible in many ways, but somewhat understandable in the light of human history. Methos had pointed out that the older watcher had never gotten married, or had a family. She had become fixated on "her" immortal. The new watcher had been trained by the older one, and as it looked, indoctrinated as well. To step across the line and to actually help them hunt was a huge departure from Watcher tradition, and Joe just shook his head about Methos's theory on why. Certainly possible, but it was still very much out there. Duncan had asked Joe what the Council would do if convinced that this had happened. Joe had grimaced.

"There will be a trial, and if she is found guilty, she will be executed. That has always been the penalty for anything like this. The same with Felicia's current watcher. If the evidence continues to mount as it has, I would expect action to be taken within the next week or so. After the Hunter atrocity, the Council will move fast and hard to stamp this out right away. That leaves Felicia."

Duncan slowly nodded. He did not have to be a seer to see where this was going. He would be expected to clean up the rest of the mess. The quid pro quo of his relationship with Joe. Since it looked very much like Felicia knew all about the Watchers, this could not be allowed to continue.  
Methos snorted. "Of course she has to be taken out. She is too much of a threat to all of us, since all indications are that she is unstable as well. It is just a matter of who does it and when."

Liz blinked as the Buzz that she had become fairly familiar with, Duncan's, was joined by another that she was pretty sure was Adam's. Why were both of them waiting there?  
Methos had come to the conclusion that telling Liz who he was would move things along and help him get the answers to some questions that he had been building up about many of the players here in Roswell. Using some very advanced equipment, he had verified that Duncan's apartment and the training room were not being monitored. Joe had told him that was his order, and usually that was the case. Methos just wanted to be sure. The most careful and diligent research had come up empty as regards Max and Isabel Evans, and Michael Guerin. NO indications of why they were the way they were and where they had come from. So it appeared a more direct approach would be needed. Liz had made it clear that sometime she would be telling Max about herself; she just wanted to be sure of the relationship before she did. Of course, there was always the possibility that they knew nothing at all about why they were the way they were, but there seemed to be no avenues left elsewhere.

Duncan quietly paced the apartment while he waited for Liz to come up. Joe had agreed that Liz needed to be warned, and that, in all likelihood, she was going to find out about the Watchers one way or another. Duncan had promised to see to it that that was the last resort, but he also thought it was just a matter of time. If Felicia found her way here, it was fairly likely that she would be quite upfront about why she was here and how she came to be here, hunting Liz. That Methos was going to tell Liz who he was startled Duncan somewhat, but he now knew just how much the mystery of the Evans and Guerin was picking at the old man. Any means necessary to find out.  
Liz walked into the apartment to see Duncan pacing and Adam in a chair with the inevitable beer. Seeing Duncan like that told Liz that something was up. She walked over and sat down on the sofa across from Adam and looked at Duncan inquiringly.

Duncan decided to get the major part out of the way quickly.

"Liz, in 1945, I was in London when the last of the V2's hit. A young woman was killed in the collapse of her building but was revived, they thought. I was on the crew that was looking for survivors and realized that she was an immortal. Her name was Felicia Rising. She came from a poor family, and from what I can gather, had an abusive, drunken father. She was rash and brash and hard already at 23. I arranged for her to train under Vicki Manning, an immortal I had met during the last year of Queen Victoria's reign. Not too many years later, I heard that she had taken up head hunting, which sadly did not surprise me that much. There was nothing I could do about it, so I put her from my mind and had not had any contact or even heard about her for almost 50 years."

Liz absorbed this. She looked at Duncan. "Let me guess—she is on her way, and MY head is what she wants?"  
Methos smirked as he sipped his beer. Certainly no flies on this one.  
Duncan nodded. "She makes a habit of taking the heads of young female immortals—sometimes males but usually females. All she cares about is getting another Quickening, nothing else matters. In many ways the typical headhunter."  
Liz was curious. "How did she know about me, and how did she know that you are here with a new student?"  
Methos grinned. Let's see how the boy scout handles that.  
Duncan pondered just how far to go. Liz was too sharp to not pick that up, and he did not want to lie to her. He decided to fudge things a little.  
"Regular people do find out about immortals on occasion, one way or another. And there are some immortals who are very curious about the whole Immortal society." He glanced at Methos when he said that.

Liz wrinkled her brows at that. "So there is some kind of rumor mill or database or something on many immortals or the immortal world?"

Methos nodded. "To a certain extent. People are people no matter if you live to 80 or 800. They are going to talk and gossip and try and figure things out. There is no organized effort or anything like that with immortals." Which of course was true. It was mortals who did it.  
Liz nodded. That made sense. "So how soon will she be here?"  
Duncan shook his head. "Not sure. I think she has no idea I am in Roswell. So it could be quite a while. I have not exactly kept a high profile, and there are only a couple of people who know. But I felt you needed to know right away so that you could be prepared."  
Methos decided to get her mind off of that and onto something else.

"Liz, I am known as Adam Pierson to most people. Duncan and a few others know me by another name—Methos."

Liz's eye got huge. She goggled at Methos. "Wow. I could tell that you were pretty old but not ancient."  
Duncan laughed out loud. "Ancient is the word. He does not even know how old he really is. Just sort of throws the 5000 years out there."  
Methos glared at Duncan. "The Boy Scout found out what it was like to be hunted early on. There are a lot of head hunters out there that would love to come after me, so I usually keep a very low profile. It's all-around healthier. But in all my years of wondering the earth, there are few things that have startled me, or surprised me. I have met a few psychic healers, and a few psychics. They are very rare indeed. Only one of them was ever Immortal." He stopped there, thinking the whole Cassandra story was not something that needed to come out now.

Duncan pondered why he stopped, then saw that he was not going to talk about Cassandra. Probably a good thing. Liz did not need to know about Death.  
Methos shook himself, and then continued on. "In all these millennia, I have seen that many myths and legends are exactly that—all smoke and mirrors hiding nothing substantial. Merely stories that grew with the telling and got embellished as the years went by. Most so-called mysteries have very mundane explanations. BUT every now and then, say once a millennia or so, I do come along something that cannot be explained and is a real mystery. Maybe it's not such a surprise that one of these instances occurred in Roswell."  
Liz sat forward. She knew that while the speed of her revival and the relative strength of her quickening was unusual, it was not unheard of. So what could this be?

Methos continued. "Not one of the psychic healers or psychics or anyone else has ever had anything like the buzz of an Immortal. I had never picked up anything from anyone else ever until I met Max and Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin. There is just a faint twitch or something there, about the strength of a pre immortal, the likes of which I have never felt before."  
Liz sat back with her eyes wide open. Max is different? But I have not felt anything from him—but then again, maybe only Methos can. She looked over at Duncan in question.  
Duncan shook his head. He had been quite close to Max several times and had never picked up anything either. This apparently was only something a truly ancient Immortal could do.

Liz sat there and thought. Max was quiet and introverted, yet kind and gentle and caring. Isabel was the typical High School Prom Queen, stuck up and separate. Michael was a stone wall, very much a loner. None of them seemed to have any real friends outside of their small circle. Which now made sense—they KNEW they were different and wanted no one to know. Which was also logical—look at how she had worried about people finding out that she was immortal, and the possible fall out about that. She thought about the day of the shooting, and concentrated on the moment right after. She was sure that she had indeed felt heat on her wound from Max's hand; but anything else was still very cloudy.

She looked over at Methos. "I am pretty sure I felt heat when Max put his hand over my wound, but everything else is blurry. Can't be certain that anything else happened, and I was unconscious right after. Even now when I meet him, I sense nothing different about him. But those three do seem to stick together, and no one else is close to them. As far as I can remember, it's always been that way."

Methos nodded. Pretty much as he figured. "It's up to you if you want to explore this further. I have come to the conclusion that, outside of talking to them, there is no way else to find out more. And that is not something I can do."

Liz was thinking hard. *OK, this is way, way out there, but it is Roswell. The timing is all wrong, but maybe…*

Duncan and Methos saw that Liz was thinking very hard. Her face could be very expressive when she let her guard down.  
Liz took a deep breath. They were going to think she was nuts, but a good scientist looks at all possibilities, not just the convenient and the safe ones.  
"OK, this is going to sound way out there, but here goes. Have you ever come across anything not of this earth?"  
Both Duncan and Methos blinked. Methos got if first and snorted. "Roswell. I guess this was inevitable. The only problem with that is the timing—that was supposedly 1947 which means 40 years too early."

Liz nodded. "Of course. But how about a next generation or maybe something like some kind of suspended animation, cryogenic freezing, and so on. Maybe they were not meant to come out until they did. Having grown up here, I have been able to talk to some people who were indeed around back then, and just about every one of them agrees that that was no weather balloon. There was just too much going on when it happened to have been just an experimental plane as well. The military was running around like chickens with their heads cut off, and being way too active for anything really ordinary. I have always thought that there might be something to it. Also Sheriff Valenti's father always did as well, he got the reputation as being obsessed about it. Kyle mentioned that a couple of times. The Sheriff apparently thought the same, though he always has made a point of not being obvious about it. The other thing about it is that the military apparently was around for months afterwards, supposedly going over the entire area with a fine toothed comb. And they went out many miles beyond the supposed crash site. Why would that be? Any debris would be fairly close, not 15-20 miles away. What if something indeed crashed here and some of them got away?"

Methos looked thoughtful. While his first reaction was to scoff, his millennia of experience had shown him that sometimes the weird and strange is true. Not often, but sometimes. Her points about the military acting as it had did seem to blow the crash theory of experimental planes and such out of the water. There would be no reason to hunt for something 20 miles away like they apparently had. Only if something had gotten away…. As far out as that sounded, it was just barely possible.

Duncan had been watching Methos, and he saw that the ancient immortal was actually considering Liz's theory. He had to admit that with what she had known, it did sound suspicious. And as an immortal, he was used to trying to come up with explanations to keep something hidden. Usually, if there is a lot of smoke, there is some fire. In only the short time he had been in Roswell, he had realized that aliens were not just used for commercial gain here; many did think something had happened.

Liz then spoke up. "Well, it's not like I can come out and ask if Max is an alien. BUT on the other hand, it would be so incredible that they could blend in like they have. One thing I can do—in the lab in advanced Biology, we will next week be looking at DNA. One of the things that we will do is look at each other's DNA after getting a sample. I think I can get one from Max without him realizing it. But where can we go to get it looked at without attracting attention?"

Methos sat up at that, his beer forgotten. "Don't worry about that. I can arrange for something somewhere, maybe sneak in to the New Mexico Universities biology lab—they would have all we need there to take a good look at it. Just find a way to get a sample, and let me do the rest."

Liz was on pins and needles as she sat in Advanced Biology that following Monday. This was the day they were supposed to look at DNA and take samples of each other to put under a microscope. She had decided to see if Max stuck to his occasional habit of chewing on a pencil—and switch it out when he wasn't looking. Alternatively, she was going to try and get a sample of his hair which would work as well. She had gotten some nail clippers and worked on them so that she could hide it in the palm of her hand and work it, snipping off some hairs while he wasn't looking. She had another possibility but did not want to go that route—using a nail file to "accidentally" scratch Max. She had justified all this to herself by figuring if nothing showed up different on the DNA then that is where it all ended. If it did, she would have to think about the next step.

Max rushed in as he usually did—his second period class was on the second floor at the other end of the building, and he was always one of the last ones in. Liz was waiting at their table as usual. She seemed a little tense for some reason—he would have to talk to her and find out what was wrong.  
Liz watched Max come towards her and willed herself to relax. She knew that hadn't worked by the searching look Max gave her as he sat down. Deciding to preempt his worried inquiries, she right away used one of the 'short-notice' stories she had come up with to deflect questions. "Sorry if I am not all there right now, Max. Dad told me the bank was questioning the latest loan we had out on the Crashdown, and it's worrying me a little." That seemed to work as Max then went and tried to put her mind at ease. She felt a little guilty about lying to him like that, but she had come to realize early on that that was life as an Immortal. She just had to make sure that she only did it when she had to, not just to make things easier.

As the class went on, Liz could see that it was Max starting to tense up as they got closer to sharing DNA samples. Liz made sure that she appeared totally into the session so as not to notice. Which was a good thing, since Max was not very good at hiding the fact that he had switched samples.  
Max had been worried about this for a while until he came up with an idea. He found a way to get his dad's DNA and use it for his. He was glad that Liz was so caught up with the actual procedure so as not to notice his switch. He did not realize that his habit of chewing on a pencil was going to make Liz's job a lot easier.  
Liz breathed a breath out heavily as she left class walking next to Max, his DNA sample in a sealed bag in her purse. During the study period that followed, Liz slipped out of the building and down to the parking lot where Methos was waiting.

Methos watched Liz come towards him, checking the surroundings to make sure no one was watching. Liz dropped the bag next to a garbage bin before walking across the parking lot to the gym building, never pausing and never even looking Methos' way. Methos was a little impressed at how well Liz had made the drop. He had met some professional spies who were not as good. He waited until she was in the building and no one was around to slip out and pick it up.

Duncan had wrestled with whether to tell Joe everything. He finally decided that, with the way they were all involved in the whole thing anyway, partial disclosure was not only rude and untrusting, but could be dangerous in the long run. BUT he needed to make sure that no one but Joe was told, so he quietly slipped Joe a note the previous night to meet him that following day where Methos was taking the DNA sample—the Las Cruces campus of New Mexico University.

Joe Dawson found himself once again balancing his duty and oath as a Watcher with his friendship with Duncan McLeod, and his burgeoning protective feelings towards Liz Parker. Figuring that Duncan's note meant something about Liz, and possibly Felicia Rising, he made sure that no one saw him head out towards Las Cruces early the next morning.

Duncan waited outside the New Mexico University Biology Lab impatiently. This whole thing rubbed him wrong, but he knew he had no choice. Sneaking around trying to spy on people and find things out about him had never been something he wanted anything to do with. He saw Joe Dawson quietly making his way towards him, and immediately started to check the area to see if someone was following him. Joe walked up to him and said, "Didn't see anyone following me—I figured this was pretty hush hush. So what is the story?" Duncan motioned him to follow him inside the building. They went into the actual biology lab which was unoccupied at the time—or almost.  
Joe saw Methos peering into a large microscope, and wondered if he was all wrong about the reason Duncan wanted him here. What could have the ancient Immortal so interested?  
Methos looked up as Duncan and Joe approached. He was not surprised that Joe was here—he figured the boy scout would tell him at least something. Well, they were in for a big surprise—he was glad that he had had a few minutes to get himself under control. In 5000 years, he had not been this shocked.  
Methos looked at them and stepped back from the microscope. "Take a look. On the right is a standard DNA sample from a normal human. On the left is Max Evans DNA."  
Duncan looked first, stepped back, shook his head and looked again. Then he looked at Methos and silently backed off. Joe took this all in and prepared himself for something extraordinary. And then he looked.  
After they had both looked, Methos took the samples out and destroyed them. By mutual accord, they quietly walked out of the building and got in their separate vehicles, all following Methos. He took them out of town to a country road and stopped near some shade trees that were far away from any buildings.  
As they all got out, Methos produced some folding chairs and some cold beers so that they could sit down and talk about what they had seen.

Joe was first. "There is no way that sample was contaminated?"  
Methos shook his head. "Liz was very careful, and I know I was too. It is what it is."  
Duncan was next. "I am no biologist, but over the years, I have seen samples of DNA, and that was very different."  
Methos nodded. "I did some boning up before this, and I can safely say that that DNA does not belong to someone of this earth. There are components there that science here is at least decades from being able to alter. Either someone almost 20 years ago was about 50-75 years ahead of everyone else on earth, or there is the other explanation."  
Joe was finding it hard to grasp. "What made you do this?"  
Methos responded. "Liz was the one who had it first—she said that she had talked to people over the years that believed something did happen in Roswell in 1947. In 5000 years, I have never gotten a twitch from anyone like I did from Max and Isabel Evans and Michael Guerin. SO while I was skeptical about little green men being able to become human, the DNA session Liz was having this week in her biology lab seemed like a way to make sure."  
Joe was still trying to catch up. "You were getting a buzz from them?"  
"Not like an Immortal buzz or even a pre immortal one. Weaker. BUT different. Very different. And I have never, ever run across it before. I have never gotten ANYTHING from anyone other than either an immortal or soon to be one."  
Joe shook his head. "So you think that Max had something to do with Liz's quickening being so strong so early?"  
Methos nodded. "She is sure she felt heat from his hand on her wound. That goes with all the psychic healers I have come across over the millennia. BUT none of them ever had anything like a buzz even when they were actually healing someone. So with what we just found out, I think it's a very good possibility that Max did increase Liz's quickening somehow. His DNA, while different from humans, still has a lot of similarities with human DNA; my guess is that someone used human DNA as the template and made changes. Those three I think were engineered to be able to blend in with humanity while still having some crucial differences that would only be seen when looking at DNA. I would imagine that Max's blood sample could very well look normal."

Duncan had been sitting, nursing his beer, and contemplating what he had just learned. 450 years he had been around, but the fact that they had uncovered evidence that strongly hinted that extraterrestrial life was here on earth completely stunned him. As an Immortal, he was, of course, well aware that there were things that could not be explained, but this was totally different. He looked up at the late morning sky and thought about all the stars he had gazed at over the centuries. He had never believed in aliens and such; while knowing that it was a possibility, he had always scoffed at such until now. In Roswell, he had noticed that people were more open to the possibility, but he had put that down to all the alien hoopla here over time since 1947. Now he thought about what Liz had said about talking to those who had been around back then and had been sure that something had happened. Well it certainly looked like they had been right.

Methos drank his beer and thought about it all. 5000 years, and for one of the few times since his early days as an Immortal, he had been knocked on his rear end in shock. He had not really thought that there would be anything different with Max Evans' DNA, but it had been a way to check and fill in the blanks. Now he knew. To be 5000 years old and have your world view completely change was shocking in itself. He realized that in many ways, he had grown complacent, thinking he had seen it all and no real surprises were left. He did not think that would ever happen again—not now.  
Joe had finally wound down on his questions to Methos. He was now sure that the ancient was correct in that any race that could make it here from wherever they came from would be so far in advance of humans that playing with DNA was probably like a 9 year old and their video game—beginners' stuff. He still had a lot more questions, but they were ones Methos could not answer. He wondered if Max could even answer them.

Duncan looked over at Methos. "Do you think Max and the rest of them know the whole story? I find it hard to believe that they would stay around Roswell if they could just leave. We know from their background that they appeared in the desert at age 6 or so. That was 1990. That was 43 years after the crash—so they had to be in some kind of sleep or suspended animation or something. Which means that the Military never found their hiding place despite all their searching of the area—which we can now guess they were searching for whoever moved the chambers or whatever came on the ship. That means that back then, there were aliens actually around here—I wonder what happened to them? Is it possible that they are still here, looking after those three? Find that hard to believe since we know Guerin was in a bad situation with his foster father. Any guardian certainly would have taken action early on to stop the abuse. So we can make the assumption that they are on their own—which would explain while those three stick together, they have not let anyone get close to them outside of the Evans parents'. I would guess they know fairly little about themselves, except that they know they are different and are afraid to let anyone know."

Methos nodded. "Certainly human history has shown what happens to those that are different. Not healthy to let it be known. We ourselves carefully guard our secret partially in fear at what would happen if it ever became known. I have a hunch that they know very little about where they came from or why or what they are all about. Outside of it being clear they were meant to blend in with humans, there is not much else we can say for certain. I will see Liz tonight and give her the details—I also want to know how Max reacted to the whole DNA thing. Not that that will tell us much more then we already know, but it would be interesting to note how concerned he was."

Liz Parker waited on her balcony that night, having just finished her kata. She knew that Methos would be by after dark to let her know the results. She was now pretty certain that Max at least knew enough to be worried, judging by the way he had tried to change samples. She had let him think he had succeeded, and he seemed much more relaxed by the end of the period. She REALLY did not like misleading him or lying to him; she thought they had a chance to make something special of their burgeoning relationship. But she also knew they would both have to be totally honest with each other for anything serious to happen. And then, there was the simple fact that unless somehow he would live a lot longer than anyone else, the brutal truth was that she would lose him anyway in the end. That fact was more and more hitting Liz deep in her soul. One day they would all be gone, and Liz Parker, assuming she did not lose her head, would be left alone again. She wondered how Methos did it—did he try and stay aloof and not get into close relationships with mortals? She really liked Duncan and thought of Methos as a friend, but the thought of the only friends she would have left in 50 or so years being the few immortals not interested in taking her head was terrifying. And even with the friends on the mortal side, how would it be to watch them grow old while she did not, not able to be around them without someone asking questions about why she did not age. She shook herself and took herself to task for getting maudlin and depressing and feeling sorry for herself. When handed lemons, make lemonade if at all possible. She looked up as she felt the Buzz hit her—Methos was coming.

Methos looked around carefully and made sure that Cynthia was not watching at the moment. Liz had completed her kata and was just sitting on her balcony looking up at the stars. Cynthia had put away her binoculars and left her observation post, so Methos started up the fire escape.  
Liz watched Methos climb over the top and walk towards her. Soon she would know for sure.  
Methos sat down besides Liz, looked up at the stars, and then looked over at Liz. She met his gaze, closed her eyes for a moment, and then nodded. She took a deep breath and started. "Max had it set up to switch samples right from the start; I let him think he had done it, then I took the pencil he had been chewing on and put it in the bag. So he either knew for sure or strongly suspected that his DNA would not look normal. I can guess from your demeanor that it is not. Just how different are we talking about?"

Methos nodded. Pretty much as expected—Max did know he was different and feared a DNA check.

"I spent last night doing research on DNA, so what I saw this morning knocked me for a loop. Someone took human DNA as a template and kept anything that would be different as regards appearances and such, and then changed some other parts fairly drastically. Many of the parts with the biggest changes are those areas that we on this planet have only begun to map and chart. And the way it was done and the results indicate someone with knowledge at least 50-75 years more advanced then what we have right now. Since we know that Max, Isabel, and Michael have been growing normally as humans over the last 10 years, they had to have been conceived before that—and DNA research has only scratched the surface of what their DNA showed. The only possible, and in some respects it's ridiculous to say but true nonetheless, reasonable explanation is that someone out there came here and mixed up a brew and put it in a chamber or whatever and let it grow. I suppose it's possible that someone from the crash in 47 somehow deposited their chambers somewhere the military was unable to find, and it took 40+ years for the brew to percolate. Or they were brought here as they were when they were found and suspended for the decades and then let loose. Which means that someone came here before that, got the DNA to put it all together, and then sent the results here. Who knows? I doubt they do. All indications are that they got out and wandered until found. Which also argues against any adult aliens being around to keep watch over them. Michael's situation strongly argues there is no one to teach them what they were supposed to be about, or even to look after them in any way. They may be in the dark every bit as much as we are."

Liz nodded thoughtfully. To have her suspicions proved rocked her some, but she had already been pretty far down this road anyway. "Those three have always been around each other, but have never let anyone else in. Guarded and suspicious of anyone and anything, knowing they were different but not having any kind of guidance or anything else to reassure them or at least inform them. That must be a scary life to lead. I am surprised that Max has even the courage or will to reach out to me as he has. Isabel, from all I can remember, has never really dated anyone, and Michael even more so."  
Methos mused. "I have seen witch hunts and other great examples of man's inhumanity to anyone thought to be different in any way. Thousands of times over the millennia. Their paranoia is absolutely understandable and defensible. In their position, I would have done exactly the same."  
Liz looked up at the stars—it would never be the same again. Now she KNEW.

Joe Dawson put the phone back on its cradle and sat back. He stared at the wall of the small office at the back of the Jazz Café. The Council had gathered enough evidence to conclude that the former watcher and current watcher of Felicia Rising had indeed been helping her hunt. After thoroughly going over all the chronicles of all the female immortals that she had killed over the last 20 years, there were just too many coincidences of Felicia finding them so quickly after many had been found and trained. In just about each case, Felicia had found them only months after they had finished training—and were no longer under the protection of their trainers. They were found in over a dozen different countries on four different continents. And in almost every case, there was some evidence that her watcher had been asking about newbie female immortals. What made it worse was that the research division of the Council had made some comments to their supervisor about the unusual number of inquiries from the watchers involved with Felicia Rising, but nothing had been done about it. That supervisor had been dead for some years now, but his replacement had also ignored the warnings. He was now being grilled about why this was the case. Indications were that he was just another ambitious mid level supervisor more concerned with his next promotion then doing his job right. He was just continuing on with the way his predecessor had done his job... who had also been more concerned with promotions then getting the job done right.

The Council was now debating about what steps needed to be taken, and when. There was no debate about the Watcher Trials that were now being prepared. They would be held soon, and there was little doubt about the outcomes. That was the easy part. The entire Watcher network would be informed only after the trials were over. What worried the Council more was that no one had raised any red flags over the violations of regulations, and that no one had spotted the now obvious ease that Felicia Rising had had finding newbie female immortals spread all over the world. It was very clear that more careful supervision of individual watchers was going to be necessary to prevent any repeat. At this very moment, the entire research division was going over every single immortal death over the last 10 years to see if any trends or glaring mishaps could be spotted. The worry was that this was NOT a one off. That this had NOT been spotted even after the very careful check that had been made after the Hunter debacle was just ANOTHER thumb in the eye of the council. It was clear that the major changes that had been debated since then would have to be implemented. It meant more central control of watchers, and more than likely more layers of supervision added to ensure that anyone going off the rails would be spotted a LOT sooner than had been the case after the Hunters and now this.

It was now clear what had happened. After very careful inquiry into the history of the retired watcher, it was seen that she had quickly become close and had identified herself to Felicia. With no family, and lonely, it seemed the wily and street smart Felicia had quickly wormed her way into the watchers heart and basically over whelmed her common sense and oath to the Watchers. It was believed that she had actively started to help Felicia about 20 years into her time as Felicia's watcher. Which meant that for the last 25 years of her time as watcher she had been diligently finding victims for her. They had been careful to not have more than one or two a year; that had certainly helped them escape any intense inquiry from anyone else. Then when it was clear that retirement would be coming, she had carefully found a young female watcher much like herself and clearly had early on indoctrinated her to help out. So when she retired, the new watcher just continued as before. And they kept the same pattern so that no one noticed any difference in the rate of kills or anything else.

Joe thought about all he had been told, and shook his head. It was so easy to see now that someone had actually looked. Joe was actually in favor of the changes to the watcher system. He had thought, for a long time, that the supervision of watchers was much too loose. Running around the world all the time isolated many of them to the point that they lost the ability to step back and make dispassionate judgments, and that was supposed to be the Watcher Byword. And the immortals that tended to try and stay in one place as long as they could also made their watchers lazy and careless. So he was not too worried about the system changes that would be coming; what he was worried about was this situation. The two watchers would be sentenced and more than likely executed. It was not that the watchers had a handy jail they could use. And both watchers had violated the most important of the watchers rules and regulations, and their oath as well. All watchers were made known even before beginning training what their fate would be if ever found taking actual part in the game by helping their immortals hunt and kill.

What the council was having the most trouble with was what to do about Felicia Rising. One thing that they were unanimous about was that the Watchers could do nothing about her; there would NEVER be a case again where the Council or Watchers had anything to do with an immortal death. Yet, she clearly knew about the Watchers, and if they took away her current watcher, she was more than smart enough to figure out why. She could then spread word about the watchers to other immortals in revenge. It was thought that it could be set up to have her watcher appear to die in an accident; that was easy enough to arrange. The problem with that is that she would be sure to go and see her OLD watcher—and if she too was suddenly dead, it would not be hard to draw some conclusions, especially with someone as unstable and paranoid as Felicia was known to be. It was being bandied about having her old watcher get sick, and then die. Then take care of the younger watcher. The problem with that were the trials that all felt were necessary. So, that pretty much sank that line of thought.

Joe knew what was going to come. The Council felt, and especially so with all the help provided to see to it that Liz Parker had been able to continue her life as before, that Duncan McLeod owed them—and the debt would be repaid with the head of Felicia Rising. Joe knew that Duncan would not be all that against taking her head—he hated head hunters, and with his old code of chivalry, the fact that someone he had found and at first befriended had turned bad, and more then that, all her victims were young and female—he felt somewhat responsible and, therefore, should take part in the reckoning. The problem was that it would be nothing but a setup which was also something Duncan hated. Yet Joe had to agree that it seemed the best of a bad set of options, and he also had to agree that Felicia Rising had to be stopped. The blood on her hands was also on the hands of the Watchers, who would clean up their own house. It was now up to the Immortals to clean theirs.

What neither the Watchers nor the Immortals involved knew was that the retired Watcher had already taken steps to find out where Duncan McLeod was staying and training his first ever female immortal. She very much disagreed with Felicia's request—Duncan McLeod was way too dangerous for this kind of game. He would stop at nothing to find out who took his student's head, and there was no doubt at what the outcome would be. But after all these years, she still could not deny her surrogate daughter's request. So she had carefully and quietly employed a very unscrupulous PI to find out what info was needed. And he had just simply planted a bug on the phone and microphones in the office of the Dojo. The Watcher operatives that were now keeping tabs on her were slow to figure out what was going on—she had never done anything like this before. By the time they did, they then called the Council to ask for instructions. This took a while longer, and as it turned, out too long. The PI called her with the information, and she then called her other daughter, in name and feelings as well, Felicia's Watcher. Felicia visited her only a few hours later, and was given the necessary information on the whereabouts of Duncan McLeod. The operatives noted this and reported in. They had already bugged the apartment that the watcher was using, so they were able to report it immediately. Felicia told her watcher that she would be leaving the next morning for the US, and would fly into Denver, rent a car, and drive to Roswell. There she would set up in a motel and start her surveillance of the situation.

The Council response had been quick and decisive. This was the final nail in the coffin of both watchers (literally and figuratively), and they were not going to be allowed to interfere anymore. They were both to be taken into custody immediately, with their trials to be done within the week. Felicia had indicated that she would not expect to see her watcher for a few days or a week, and would expect a call. It was decided that they would have a imposter call Felicia and let her know that her old watcher had fallen and broken her hip, and was in a hospital, and that it would be another week or so before she could be there in Roswell. No one would notice, and no one would be suspicious. The council felt that Felicia would be much more interested in getting her next head then with concern about her old watcher, who had pretty much outlived her usefulness anyway. The ruthless and pragmatic Felicia Rising had all she needed in her current watcher, and that was plenty.

Two days after the last call, Joe was informed of what had happened and that Felicia Rising was on her way to Roswell, and would be expected to be there in about two more days. Two Watchers were following her, with 2 more as back up. They would take turns so that there would be no way she would get suspicious. She had already reserved rooms in a Roswell motel, and the room in question would be bugged before she arrived. All rules about surveillance had been waved in her case.

Duncan walked into the Jazz Café only an hour after getting a call from Joe that he needed to see him right away. He had just finished up that evening's training session with Liz. She was getting better every day, and now that they could actively spar, she was improving rapidly. He was not yet sure she was good enough to beat Felicia, however. He wanted at least one, and preferably two, more months of training.

Joe looked up as Duncan entered the café. He motioned to Sam to put up the closed sign—they were only a half hour or so from the normal closing time for a Monday anyway. And by saying the sound system was on the fritz, there had been no music that night, so the usual crowd had left already. He headed to the office in the back, and Duncan followed him. There they found Methos sitting with a beer waiting for them.  
Methos was pretty sure that something big was up, but he could not help tweaking Joe.  
"Really a great way to keep your clientele, Joe. Sabotage the sound system, stop anyone from playing anything anyway. What's next, watering down the beer?"  
Joe just looked at him and shook his head. "We have a lot bigger problems than that."  
Duncan and Methos looked at each other, then at Joe.

Joe sank down behind his desk and pulled out a very old bottle of Scotch. And then he poured three full glasses and handed one of them each to Duncan and Methos.  
That got Duncan and Methos's attention. Joe was not one to use very old scotch on just any occasion. This one had to be big.  
Joe sighed and stared up at the ceiling for a minute. Then he looked at Duncan.  
"Felicia is on her way to Roswell. She will get here in the next two days."  
Duncan said nothing but raised his eyebrow. Methos as usual had no problem getting right to it.  
"How did her watcher find out?"

Joe shrugged. "It was her old retired watcher. She hired an unscrupulous but efficient PI and sent him to Seacouver. He bugged the phones and the office of the Dojo, and it only took him 2 days to find out. The Watchers supposed to be keeping an eye on her were both slow and stupid; by the time they figured out what was going on and then asked the council for instructions, he had already called her, and she then called her protégé. By the time the council told them to take her into custody, it was already done. Felicia came by only a couple of hours later and once again the slowness of the operatives allowed her to find out before they took her watcher into custody. So no matter what you can say about Watcher stupidity, what is done is done. Felicia is on her way here to take Liz Parker's head."

Joe felt in a way relieved that he would not have to tell Duncan that it had been decided by the Council that it was up to him to take care of Felicia. Events had overtaken all the carefully laid plans, and Joe was not exactly unhappy about that. But the situation now had gotten a lot more tricky. He had been able to watch one of Liz's training sessions with Duncan (Liz had accepted Joe as a close friend of Duncan's and had had no objection with him being around during training). Liz was progressing very quickly indeed for a newbie but to expect her to take on Felicia now was asking a lot. Joe had no doubt that given a few more months of training, Liz would wipe the floor with her—but not yet. Joe had no doubt that Duncan would be quite willing to meet Felicia right away and tell her either to fight him now or get out of town. The problem with that is that Felicia would then try to contact her watcher, and from there on out, who knew what she would do. He decided he needed to talk to Duncan about all the possible ramifications, but as usual, Methos decided to kick the table over.

Methos sipped his scotch and then looked at Duncan. "Well, Boy Scout, the whole thing is really on you now. If you go right up to her and tell her to get out of town, you are just delaying the inevitable. She is not dumb enough to fight you, and she will then go right back and try and get help from her watcher, and when she finds out that she has disappeared, and her old watcher as well, she will get desperate, and who knows what she will do then. She could become a threat to both Immortals and Watchers. This has to be taken care of now and not later."

Duncan sipped his scotch and thought about what both Joe and Methos had said, and what was unsaid but understood. There was no way Felicia would fight him, but it was painfully clear that she had to be stopped and stopped for good. He cocked an eyebrow at Methos, who caught the look and correctly interpreted it.  
"She is just old enough to sense my age, or that I am pretty old, and there is no way she will fight me either. It's going to have to be another woman, and one who is not too old either. That leaves out Cassandra, and Amanda as well. Do you know of anyone you could call who would come and do it?"

Duncan grimaced and realized that he really did not know anyone who fit the bill and who he could be sure would win. Annie was also too old and too well known. Vicki Manners unfortunately had been killed more than 40 years ago (and he had avenged her two years later), and he really did not know anyone else he could call. So he returned the look at Methos, who shook his head.

"Forget that thought, Duncan. I do not know anyone who fits the bill either. And that wild child you had Amanda train a few years ago is really not good enough to be sure to win. Though I would agree that she certainly would try if in return she got to share your bed for a while." He smirked.

Duncan glared at him. He needed no reminder of that fiasco—she still tried every now and then—though usually Amanda was around and sent her right off. But at least otherwise, she had settled down somewhat—if being an occasional cat burgler and accomplice to Amanda could be called settling down.

Joe had been working away at his scotch, and it had loosened him up enough so that he could say what he knew everyone was thinking.  
"We all know it's going to have to be Liz that takes her on. And we all know that she is really not ready, is she?"  
The silence that greeted that pronouncement spoke volumes.

Liz had decided that tonight was the night to tell Max about herself, and in turn to let him know that she knew he was not exactly normal himself. She had decided to tell him that she had done a DNA test on him, using one of the pencils he liked to chew on. She felt that he did not need to know right now about the others involved and that they knew he was not of this earth.

Max looked up at the balcony of the Crashdown—where Liz Parker spent a lot of her free time. She had called him only an hour ago to ask him to stop by. This was the first time he had been invited into what was really her personal space—only frequented by Maria and Alex otherwise. He had a feeling she wanted to talk to him about something fairly serious; what, he had no idea. Taking a deep breath, he headed up the fire escape.

Cynthia had been observing Liz for the past hour, watching Liz practice her KATA. The fact that Liz was still sitting outside was not unusual; what was unusual was that she was not reading a book or studying or anything like that; neither was she just laying back and watching the stars. That tipped off Cynthia that Liz was expecting someone. Cynthia was still trying to calm herself down after hearing from Joe Dawson today about the whole Felicia Rising mess, and the fact that the female head hunter was on her way to Roswell to take Liz Parker's head. Her shock over the total breakdown of the watcher system in regards to Felicia Rising warred with her worry about Liz. Cynthia already realized that she would never be able to be impartial about Liz; she was a friend, and Cynthia cared about her. And Cynthia knew that Liz could be dead within days—as pretty much everyone else admitted, Liz was not ready to face a challenge from an experienced headhunter. No matter how well she had trained and gotten stronger and tougher, experience was way ahead of everything else when it came down to a sword fight to the death.

Liz took a deep breath as Max appeared over the side of the balcony. She had thought very hard all that day about how she was going to do this. In the end, she felt that fast and straightforward was the best way.  
"Sit here, Max. I have something really big to share with you."  
Max did as he was bid.  
Liz pulled out a large hunting knife that she had borrowed from Duncan when she told him how she was going to tell Max. He had shook his head but agreed that, while drastic, it would indeed be hard to refute.  
Max's eyes widened at the sight of the large knife.  
Liz handed the knife to him grip first. He gingerly took it, then looked at her in confusion.  
"Check the knife, Max. I want you to see that it is real and sharp."  
Confused, Max did look it over and saw that it was indeed real and sharp. Liz then reached out for it, and he handed it to her the same way she had handed it to him.

Liz took another deep breath, and then proceeded to cut her left arm wide open.  
Max jumped up yelling, "Liz! What are you doing?"  
Liz dropped the knife, held up her hand, and pointed at her cut arm.  
Max looked, and his mouth dropped wide open in shock.  
Blue sparks were arcing over the wound which was already closing. As he watched, the wound got smaller and smaller, and then disappeared. Liz then took a rag that she had left beside her chair, and wiped off the blood—showing an unmarked arm. No scar. She then handed him the rag. He looked at it and at her blood on it, then dropped it to the ground. Then he looked at her, still in total shock.  
After her third deep breath, Liz started.

"That day I was shot, it turned out worse than it looked. The bullet lodged right next to my right renal artery. When I was supposedly stabilized, the nurse that hooked me up to the monitors messed up. So when the bullet moved and nicked the artery, the machines gave no warning as I bled to death internally. I died, Max. Then a couple hours later, I woke up. I felt fine, which surprised me. My curiosity overcame my common sense, and I unwrapped the bandage over my stomach. I found unmarked, unscarred skin, and the threads from the sutures just laying on the bandage."

At this point, she raised up her shirt and showed Max her unscarred stomach.  
"Needless to say, I was in shock and terrified. I had no idea what had happened. As I sat there and tried to figure out what to do, I realized that if anyone found out about this, I would be a circus side show freak at best or a lab rat somewhere at worst. And then I got this terrible headache—it was like someone was stabbing me in the forehead with a knife. As I held my head and groaned, I heard a voice tell me to look at him and the pain would go away. I looked up at a tall dark haired man in his late twenties or early thirties, and the pain did go right away. He then told me that his name was Duncan McLeod, and that like him, I was now immortal. And I would never age a day beyond right now"

Liz sat back and let Max absorb all this.

Cynthia dropped her binoculars and took a deep breath. She did not need to hear the words to know what Liz was telling Max. The knife and cut arm did all that. So now they would find out how Max took the news. She then started writing in Liz's chronicle. This was a fairly important event in her life as an Immortal.

Max's brain was whirling in confusion. Immortal? That meant never dying, but she had died. But she had then come back to life. Did that mean she would recover from any wound? Immortal. Never aging? That meant she would look like this all her life no matter how long it was. He had no idea how long a life he was to have, but it certainly—or as far as he knew—would not be that long. And he had to assume that he would age in some ways if even slower than others. And Liz would not. He took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down. He looked over at Liz who was looking at him with a sympathetic gaze. Like she understood where he was coming from as regards the shock. And in fairness, she certainly did understand that aspect of the situation.

Liz waited a few minutes for Max to get his act together. She then reached over and touched his arm.  
Max felt Liz touch his arm and he looked over at her.  
"There is more. Do you want it all now, or do you want some more time to come to grips with it?"  
Max shook himself, and then looked at Liz. "If there is going to be a lot more, I don't know. But I want to know the whole story now."

"OK. Duncan arranged for me to be sent to Albuquerque where there was a clinic he had helped start up some time ago that had people who knew about Immortals. It was all about hiding what I was. That has been pretty much what I have been doing ever since—hiding what I have become. There are a fair number of Immortals out there—hundreds, perhaps a few thousand all over the world. All carefully hiding what they are out of fear of witch hunts and other not so pleasant possibilities. Now you might wonder how this all happens—the easy answer is that no one knows—not even the oldest Immortal around who is over 5000 years old. Now not too many people know that I was adopted—I was found abandoned outside the Crashdown only a few months after my parents opened it. Mom could not have any children. so they adopted me. All Immortals are found that way—there has never been a mother found. We just appear. And until our first deaths, we are just like anyone else. BUT when we die the first time—and it seems part of the package that it usually is a quick or violent death—we then revive and are from that moment forward Immortal."

Max was slowly getting a grip on himself and beginning to think about what Liz was saying.  
"How come there are no more immortals than that—and you said the oldest was 5000? No one older?"  
"There are indications that there have been Immortals a lot longer than 5000 years. There is one way that an Immortal can die permanently. If he is decapitated."  
Max started to have a bad feeling. "Why aren't there more, and why aren't there any older ones? Why do I have a very bad feeling that has something to do with the decapitation thing?"  
Liz nodded to herself. Max was indeed getting back to normal if he was able to start putting the pieces together.  
"For as long as there have been Immortals, there has been the Game"  
"Game?"  
"For every Game there is a Prize. What allows an Immortal to revive, heal wounds, and not age is called the Quickening. It is some kind of energy that only we have—and if you take the head of another Immortal, you get his quickening to add to yours—and yours gets stronger. The legend has it that when there are no more new immortals, and as the number of immortals grows smaller, those that remain will fight more often, and the whole pace will accelerate until only a few are left. They will feel an irresistible pull to come together in what is called the Gathering. There they will fight until only one is left—one person with all the Quickenings of every Immortal who has ever been. That person will supposedly have the power to rule the world. That is the Prize."

Max thought he had been shocked before. He was wrong. This was much worse. He looked over at Liz who seemed way too calm about all this. She had gotten up, walked over to the side of the structure, pulled a piece of siding out of the way, and pulled out something long and slender. It was a sword. She then walked over to the middle of the balcony and started to move, swinging it in some sort of rhythm, some sort of exercise. She was quick and graceful; it was almost a dance.

Liz practiced her Kata for the second time that night; it helped to calm her down, and it would let Max think things out.  
Max watched mesmerized by Liz's dance with her sword. He now saw where she had been spending so much of her time—she had been indeed working out, but also spending a lot of time learning how to handle a sword. And he understood. Liz was now part of this game, and she would have to learn how to defend herself with a sword. And that shook him down to his soul. Clearly Liz was preparing to fight to the death against someone else with a sword.

Cynthia paused to make some more notes in Liz Parkers Chronicle. This was going to be a fairly big entry... in more ways than one. She just hoped that she would still be making notes a few months from now.

Liz finished and put her sword back. It had taken her about 15 minutes to complete the exercise. She walked over and sat down in her chair. Max was surprised to see that she was barely breathing hard—that had not been a light session. Liz was actually now in very good physical condition. And now Max knew why she had been so determined to work out and get stronger. It was all part of the puzzle.

Liz looked at him and decided now was the time for the WHOLE STORY PART 2—or MAX's TURN.

"OK Max, I have shown you my secret. Turnabout is fair play. So what is yours?"

Max sat us straight, shocked once again. "What are you talking about? My secret?"

Liz just looked at him. "When I was shot, I felt a lot of heat from your hand on my stomach. Duncan told me that my Quickening was a lot stronger for a newbie, and waking up in only a few hours was very unusual indeed. He is of the opinion, and I agree, that something supercharged my quickening. The only one that could have done that was you. I have been thinking about that, when not thinking about being Immortal and all the baggage that comes with it—you know, only being able to tell a few and not aging means I will have to move every 5-7 years as people realize that I do not age, outliving all my friends and family, and so on. So last week when we did the DNA thing, I kept one of your pencils you liked to chew on, took some of the saliva, and put it under a microscope. Max, in case you did not know, your DNA, while mostly human, has parts of it that are NOT. And the way the work was done is so far advanced to ANYTHING that anyone here ON THIS PLANET can do, like at least one hundred years more advanced, the only explanation that in any way fits is that you are NOT of this earth. Which leaves only one possibility. And since I did notice how you switched your sample last week, you clearly know something about yourself is not normal. So Max, as I said, you now know my secret. What's yours?"

Max was reeling. One shock after another. Liz knew he was different; more than that, she had figured out that he was an alien. Or something not of this earth. He did not know what to do. He just sat there.  
Liz sighed. Max was obviously on overload. Maybe she should not have added this to the other shocks he had taken. She got up and squatted in front of Max, and took both his hands in hers.  
"Come on, Max. It's not like I am going to shout out about this or take an ad in the paper or something like that. Of all the people you know, I am probably the only one that really understands why you have hidden yourself, and why you are so terrified that someone might find out. It is exactly the same for me. And if you think that you being some kind of alien, or human/alien mix, or whatever, makes any difference to me, well then you are right—IT DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE!"

At that Max looked up. And Liz leaned in and gently kissed him. "It means that I am not alone in being different, and not just because I know there are other immortals. It means my guy is also different, and that makes us more alike than any other couple I know."  
Max gripped her hands tighter and drew her onto his lap. And then he just held her as they looked up at the stars.

Duncan, Joe and Methos had talked long into the night trying to come up with a plan to deal with Felicia when she showed up. Unfortunately, they had been unable to find any viable alternative to Liz having to fight her. Any Immortal challenging Felicia that she did not think she could win against would make her just run and bide her time. Then when she found out her watcher support was gone, who knew what she would do then. The threat to both groups was apparent. Even if all she did was try and spread rumors and innuendo, that could cause some in either side to become uninterested. And if one of those groups did indeed take her seriously, or worse yet, decided to find her and did, the possible fallout there could be catastrophic. She could also start telling other Immortals about the watchers; that could also spell big trouble.

Duncan had finally decided that Liz should be told as soon as possible; he would do that the next day. And then he would try and figure out a way for him to get Liz away from Roswell for a few days of intensive training. Methos had volunteered to stay at Duncan's place and be a decoy. If he stayed indoors, any Immortal could sense him outside the building. That would reassure Felicia that she had the right place; one lucky thing was that after the Watchers had taken her old Watcher in custody, they had found out that the name of the new female Immortal had not been used. Of course a search of the Roswell newspaper's would quickly come up with Liz's name, and it would not be hard for Felicia to connect the dots. BUT that could take a couple of days, and right now, every day counted. The Watchers tailing her reported that she was not exactly pushing herself to get to Roswell. They thought it would be at least another day before she arrived. That left Duncan with the next day and possibly another before Felicia was in town.

Max had gotten back very late from Liz's. His mother had not been happy that he was so late getting home on a school night, but when Max said that Liz had needed his help, she relented. She really liked Liz and was very happy that Max was finally coming out of his shell enough to actually date someone. That had worried her for a long time, even though her husband had told her that while Max was a little introverted, he was still pretty young, and she should not worry too much just yet. Max then went by his sister's room and knocked on the door. Isabel had been a little worried as well; the call from Liz had clearly been out of the ordinary, and she was still not happy that Max was dating little Ms. Scientist. Any change always felt like a threat to Isabel. SO she was waiting for Max and dragged him into her room.

"OK, Max, what's up?"

Max was a little worried about telling Isabel—he had wanted to tell both her and Michael at the same time to cut down on having to tell the story, but he also realized that doing it one at a time might be better in the long run. Liz had gotten the whole story out of him... not that there was much to tell. They really did not know where they came from, though they were pretty sure it was indeed from out there. They remembered getting out of pods and walking away. And they had found the pods last year when they had gotten a chance to start looking around. As far as they could tell, the small cave had not been entered since they left it over 10 years earlier. They had found it by just driving around until they had each felt something, and it had led them to the cave. Outside of the pods, they found nothing. They pretty much knew what they could do—over the years they had figured that out if nothing else. But why they were here and where they had come from was a total mystery to them. Liz had pondered this for a while, and then told him none of this really surprised her. And then she had given him permission to tell Isabel and Michael about her immortality—and the whole story about the Game. She had then grinned at him and said that if they did not believe him, they could come by, and she could show them the same way she had shown him.

"Liz had a really big thing to tell me. And it was as big as our secret."

Isabel Evans prided herself on not losing her cool. Ice Queen Isabel was a label she was rather proud of; she had worked long and hard to earn it. But this really rocked her.  
"How in the world can little Ms. Scientist have a secret that rivals ours? Come on Max she is a small town girl working in her parents' alien-themed café. There is no way she could have anything like our secret."  
Max actually smirked, which startled Isabel even more; Max was acting out like she had never seen him do. This was obviously more of Liz Parker's influence, and she was not happy about it.

"OK Max, clearly she has you wrapped around her little finger. So what is her big secret?"

Somewhat annoyed over Isabels attitude and her obvious disparaging of Liz, Max decided quick and hard was appropriate for this occasion.

"Liz died of bleeding that night. Then she came back to life as an Immortal. She will never age; she will look exactly like she does now for the next hundred or thousand years or whatever. And apparently my attempt at healing helped speed up the whole process."

Isabel sat on her bed with her mouth wide open. He could not be serious. BUT from looking at her brothers face he was. She tried to gather her wits.  
"I think she is nuts. How can she prove this?"

"She took out a big knife and cut her arm right down the middle. It healed in only a couple of minutes and left no scar at all. She then showed me her stomach which also has no scar on it either."

Isabel was now totally blown away. That kind of proof was pretty definite. Immortal? Well, that did rival their secret for sure. Isabel then got a nasty suspicion.

"You did not tell her about us, did you?"

Max looked her right in the eye. "She already knew I was not from around here."

Now Isabel got scared. "How did she KNOW?"

Max sighed. "She was suspicious because she felt heat from my hand on her stomach when I tried to heal her. Then she was told by her Immortal trainer that reviving only a couple of hours after her first death was VERY unusual. And apparently her Quickening—which is what Immortals call that special energy or whatever it is that keeps them from aging after their first death and heals them with so much speed and no scarring—is much stronger then a new immortal should have. So last week during Advanced Biology when we were doing DNA tests, she noticed I had switched my sample, and then found a way to get another, and checked it out. Which answers one question we have always had—our DNA IS much different than a normal humans."

Isabel sat there and tried to think. Then some of what Max had said sunk in.

"Immortal Trainer? What does she need training for?"

Max looked grim. And then filled in Isabel on the Game.

Isabel had thought that she had gone beyond shock, but hearing how Liz Parker was now training with a sword to fight other Immortals who wanted to take her head and her quickening and eventually maybe rule the world showed how wrong she was. As far as having a life that could suck, she had to admit that maybe Liz's deal was worse than theirs. At least they did not have to learn how to use a sword.

After sitting and thinking for some time, Isabel looked at her brother.

"I know you, Max. You right now are trying to figure out a way to help her. Even though from what you say all battles between them must be one on one with no interference."

Max nodded. "I know. And that hurts that I probably cannot do a thing to help her. One thing though, and this is another big one. Apparently in addition to that rule which some bad immortals have broken, there is one rule that none of them will ever break. There will be no fights on Holy Ground, and that means Holy to any religion anywhere."

Isabel looked intrigued at that. "Why would all Immortals, even the really evil ones, follow that rule?"

Max looked very grim at that. "Because a legend that they ALL believe is that the last time two immortals fought on holy ground was right outside of Pompeii. And right after they fought, Vesuvius erupted and wiped out that whole area."

Isabel's mouth dropped open for about the fourth time that night. She shook her head dazedly. "OK, I am willing to admit that her secret is a bigger one than ours."

Liz Parker was on her morning study hour when she got a message to come to the main office. Curious about what it could be, she went in and found a message from Duncan to call him as soon as she could. Worried, she asked one of the counselors if she could use their office for a phone call. This was granted, and she wasted no time.

Liz put down the phone after Duncan had told her that Felicia Rising would be in town no later than the next day. He told her that he wanted to find a way to get her out of town for some intensive training for at least a few days, and that they were putting in motion a plan to make Felicia think that Duncan was staying in his apartment, with Methos being the decoy. Liz sat there, trying to think. Then she got an idea. She then made another phone call.

Max had decided that Michael deserved to know as soon as possible, so he made sure that he got out on time that afternoon to head over to the Crashdown to be there while Michael was working his shift. Michael had been able to arrange his class schedule so that he was able to work the 2-10 shift every day. Taking breaks was fairly flexible, and Max knew that he could talk Maria into seeing to it that they were not disturbed. Liz had told him that she had let Maria know that she was going to tell Max about her Immortality; Maria did NOT know about Max, and Liz had told him that only if he signed off on it would she tell Maria. Telling Michael about it was something that Liz had told Maria was up to him. Maria had questioned this (Michael was not one of her favorite people), but Liz had been firm that it was up to Max.

Michael was wondering what had Max shaken up; he could see the signs. So when Maria told him that Max was there to talk to him, and that she would make sure that no one disturbed them in the break room at the back, he KNEW it had to be something about Liz Parker. There was no way Maria would do that otherwise.

In the break room, he found Max sitting at the table. Getting right to it he stated, "There is no way Maria would help me out in anyway, so this has got to have something to do with Liz. So let's hear it, Max."  
Max looked him in the eye and gave it to him.

Liz got off early that day, a light day on her schedule. She decided to go straight home, catching a ride from Kyle, who did not question her, for which she was thankful. She walked into the Crashdown and ran right into Maria, who wasted no time in telling her that Max was in the back with Michael and probably spilling all of Liz's 'Immortals' secrets right now, and was she sure that it was such a good idea.

Liz smiled at her best friend. "Probably not, but it felt right." Then walked back to the break room, stopping by the counter to pick up a sharp knife.

Michael was sure that Max had lost it. Liz Parker, immortal? Learning to fight with swords to cut off the heads of other Immortals and maybe one day rule the world. Just no way.

The door opened, and they both looked up. Liz Parker walked in, closed the door, and looked at them.  
"Let me guess, Michael is somewhat skeptical?" she smirked at Max and Michael.  
Max nodded. Liz nodded, then pulled the knife out from behind her, showed it to Michael, and cut her arm wide open.  
Michael jumped up—and then stopped as Liz showed her arm and the blue arcs of light dancing around the wound that was ALREADY closing. He stared transfixed as it healed. Liz then took the large napkin from her back pocket, wiped the blood off of her arm, and showed Michael an unscarred, unmarked arm.

Michael sat down hard. Outside of the time they had found their pods and finally accepted that they were truly aliens, this had shocked him more than anything else in his entire life.

Liz looked at Max. "Duncan called me this morning to let me know that there is a headhunter on her way here to Roswell to take my head. She will probably be here tomorrow. I called my grandmother and told her that I needed to get away from town for a few days and convinced her to call my parents tonight to spin a story about needing me to help her for a few days. I have a light schedule tomorrow anyway, and next Monday is nothing special, so I will miss it as well. I am going to be spending the next few days in intensive training. Looks like my first challenge is going to come a lot sooner than I had thought."  
Max was able to talk Liz into letting him drive her to the place Duncan had picked out- a farm about 50 miles north of Roswell that a watcher family owned. It was currently empty but still had the utilities turned on. It had a nice sized barn that would serve well as a temporary training site. Liz had then talked to Max, Maria and Michael about keeping an eye out but to NOT in any way have anything to do with the headhunter. She was very clear on that- the Felicia was a real piece of work and could be a threat to anyone that got in her way.

Felicia Rising drove into Roswell that evening- only about 6 hours after her target left. Unknown to her she was followed by 4 watchers, each in separate cars. They had arranged to place a beeper on her rental. She checked into a relatively cheap motel (Felicia was known to be tight with a dollar) and then immediately went to the town library. Her Watchers had to be somewhat careful, though at the moment she was not particularly watchful herself. One of them was able to get close enough to see that she was looking up telephone numbers. That took her about 15 minutes then she left the library.

She drove straight to where the clinic was and parked nearby. She stayed far enough away so that any Immortal in the clinic would not be aware. She circled the building twice and looked at it from every angle. Then she walked up to it and around the rear. Clearly now trolling to see if there was an immortal in the building.

Methos had been pretty bored sitting in Duncan's apartment waiting for Felicia Rising, but realized that he had indeed volunteered. No good deed goes unpunished, he reminded himself. Then he felt a buzz; after all these millennia he had gotten fairly good at figuring out if the buzz he felt was one he had felt before. This was definitely not one that he knew well; and since that number was fairly limited to Duncan, Amanda and a few others he could be pretty sure it was Felicia. Deciding to play up to her, he went to a window and pulled back the curtain slightly, enough to be seen from down below but not enough for anyone to get a good look at him.

Felicia smirked and quickly moved out of sight of the window where she had seen movement. Her reading of the building had made her think the apartment was on this side and she had been right. *Hello, Duncan. Long time no see. Sorry to take your student but that is how I play the game.*

The Watchers observed the interaction and made notes. It had been made very clear to them that they were to write down everything but to take no action under any circumstances. They were to Watch and only Watch.

Joe Dawson had gotten a call from the lead Watcher tailing Felicia, letting him know she was in town and looking around. Wasting no time, he called Duncan on his satellite phone (Duncan had gotten it only this week to be sure that he could contact or be contacted any time anywhere).

Duncan put down his phone and went back to watching Liz warm up doing her Kata. He then started his own, pleased by her progress. She was getting it quicker than any student he had ever had; but then none of them had had the motivation for immediate need that Liz had. He just hoped he was able to teach her enough in the next few days to make the difference.

Max was in the Crashdown more out of habit than anything else. In the talk with Liz, she had said that Duncan thought that Felicia would give it a day or so of staking out the Clinic, then would start to look harder for her target. They figured that she would go back to the library and start looking up local news over the last few months, hoping to find what she needed. Since the shooting had been front page news for several days, it would not be hard to find.

Methos was really getting bored, stuck in the apartment. Then he had an idea- and made a phone call.

Joe Dawson had to laugh to himself. Methos really was pretty predictable in a lot of ways. The novelty of doing a good deed had clearly worn thin pretty fast. He now wanted to be able to escape the apartment at least a little and needed to know where Felicia was. He had suggested that perhaps him moving close enough to Felicia for her to feel him then leave would have her jumping around more. With the watchers help, he should be able to avoid her getting more than a glimpse of him. Joe had said OK, but not too much. She was really unpredictable and they did not want to set her off right away.

Felicia looked up as she caught the Buzz. Looking around carefully she could not see anyone that looked likely. Then it was gone- clearly someone had not wanted to be seen and had moved off as soon as they felt it. Felicia was much too young to be able to tell the differences in Quickenings, so to her it had to be the newbie. Probably Duncan had told her that as soon as she felt a buzz to get away immediately. She decided not to try and find her right now; and began to think that maybe she should start trying to identify her instead of just staking out Duncan's apartment. No, time enough for that. Duncan had almost certainly already warned her of a new Immortal in town. And he would want to accelerate her training for sure. Staking out his apartment sounded like the best thing for the moment.

Liz sat down on a bale of straw, breathing heavily. Duncan was pushing her to her limits. And beyond. She looked down at her shirt, torn and stained from the several cuts that he had inflicted on her. But she was getting better- it was no longer easy for him! As Duncan had thought when first assessing her potential, being small and quick was a good thing sometimes. She was able to avoid and move away quite often, more then a bigger and slower opponent could. He was now trying to teach her offensive moves, which was always the hardest thing for a newbie to learn. Defense and parry were more reactive and instinctive; attacking required thought and planning and a distinct series of moves. Interspaced with all this Duncan was constantly forcing Liz to counter other kinds of attacks such as punches and kicks and even that old chestnut, throwing dirt into your opponent's eyes.

Duncan let Liz rest for a few minutes, knowing that she needed to absorb lessons more than learning to fight exhausted. That would come later. He was trying to cram a couple months of training into a few days- and deciding what was important from what was not had been hard. He had always had a set routine for his training and it really bothered him to change it- but he knew he had no choice. The whole idea was to teach her enough to survive; polishing and refining could come later. He knew he was much better then Felicia, and the knowledge that Liz was beginning to be able to block his attacks was good. He felt that it was better to concentrate on defense and teach Liz only a few basic attack moves. From all that Joe had been able to describe of the way Felicia fought, she did not appear to have a lot of patience and if Liz could stymie her for long enough, she would start to overextend and get overly aggressive, leaving her open to simple counterattacks.

Methos was happy enough to be able to get out of the apartment; tweaking Felicia was just icing on the cake. He had done it twice then decided to head back.

Felicia was puzzled and starting to get angry. Whoever it was had come back and done it again- just long enough for Felicia to feel him or her and then leave. The idea that someone was trying to play games on her just stoked her anger. She knew that it was not Duncan doing it- he was much too direct and honest. He would have come right up to her. The odds that there was a third immortal in a town this size was pretty long, and being Roswell and a tourist trap making it even less likely. So it had to be the newbie trying to play games with her. Well 2 could play at this game- all she had to do was find out who it was. Back to the library.

The Watchers let Joe know that Felicia had gone back to the library and was searching through the local newspaper which had just recently gone online. They were of the opinion that it would not take her long to make the connection to Liz Parker. Since it was almost 6 pm, and the Library closed at 8, odds were that she would find out before she had to leave.

Joe decided that Duncan needed to know what was going on and gave him a call.

Duncan listened to what Joe had to say, then motioned Liz over and gave her the phone.  
Liz listened, then thought for a moment. "Joe, here is Maria's number. Call her and let her know that odds are that Felicia will be going by the Crashdown. Tell her to let Max and Michael know and remind them that they are too do NOTHING."

Max put down the phone, having just come back from talking to Michael at his apartment. They had discussed the whole situation, and had reluctantly agreed that they had to stay out of it. He had been surprised that Michael had even considered doing anything at all, and had told him so. His reply had surprised Max.

"Just because we have to keep a low profile does not mean I don't care, Max. You might remember that Liz was one of the very few people that tried to be my friend over the years. It was just her way. She is one of the nicest people I have ever met, and this whole Immortal deal really sucks for her. Especially with this crazy bitch coming after her so soon after it all happened. I would like to help, but really there does not seem to be a way. I mean I could blast the bitch, but that would attract way too much attention. Its pretty clear to me that Duncan has other people keeping an eye on her, so that is out."

Max had asked him about that whole keeping an eye on her. Michael had rolled his eyes and told max that he needed to look around some when he was with Liz. He had noticed a young woman and at least another man who had been around the Crashdown that he did not recognize. And they seemed to be keeping an eye on Liz.

Max thought about that. It made sense- and Liz had said that several people at the clinic were friends of Duncan or had family ties to friends of Duncan. IT was a smart move to have someone keeping an eye on her, especially with this threat to worry about.

Now Max decided to head back to the Crashdown in the morning, which would be Saturday. If the headhunter had figured out who her target was, she would be by the Crashdown pretty quickly after. And Michael had the morning shift. His surprising admission to liking Liz made Max worry that the impulsive Guerrin might take it into his head to do something if he saw an opportunity. Max was of two minds about that= he badly wanted to help out Liz but he knew they also risked being found out.

Joe had come by the apartment to talk to Methos. He was feeling restless himself and getting out from behind the desk sounded good. They were discussing Methos's plan to keep tweaking Felicia and trying to figure out how much would be about right and how much could possibly send her off. Joe was off the opinion that the tweaking had already speeded things up and that was not necessarily a good thing. Duncan had made it clear he wanted 3 full days to get Liz as close to ready as possible.

Methos had to admit that probably starting the tweaking only on the second day maybe had been pushing it since it seemed clear that had pushed Felicia into finding out about Liz quicker then she might have otherwise. But he felt that playing defense was not the best tactic to use in this case. The more frustrated and angry Felicia became, the better chance Liz had in the fight that was to come. Especially if Felicia felt Liz had been playing games with her, which is what Methos had intended.

Methos felt the buzz and went over to the window, doing as before and only slightly opening the drapes. Felicia was standing on the street in full view. Then deliberately she turned and slowly walked away.  
Joe agreed that that was Felicia's way of telling Duncan that she was here. And why.

Maria was getting ready to help open the Crashdown that Saturday morning, trying to concentrate on her job despite her worry for Liz. She and Alex had spent the previous evening trying to find a way to help out but could not. Ever since Liz had told her 3 days ago about the coming headhunter Maria had been alternately scared and angry. Which made her very hard to be around. Surprisingly Michael had actually been helpful- he right away told her that he was ready to help out but that he had not figured out how. She was forced to admit that she was in the same boat. All they could do was watch out and if the bitch showed up try and not let her know anything about Liz. They had agreed to make sure that no one else talked to her. They were worried that if they managed to talk to one of the other workers they might let it out that Liz was out of town for the next few days. Who knew what the headhunter would do then?

Felicia looked at the Crashdown and smirked. Tacky was being polite. It had not been hard at all to find out who the newbie was. The story of the shooting was very prominently spread all over the local newspaper for several days. It had taken her less than an hour to come across it. Liz Parker being shot and somehow surviving told her all she needed to know. Pre Immortals almost invariably died violently or suddenly. Car crashes and gun shots seemed to be a couple of the more favored ways. Felicia had never cared for figuring out why things were the way they were- to her it did not matter. She decided to go in and see if Parker was there.

Maria had gotten a phone call from Joe Dawson, apparently one of Duncan's Immortal friends who were keeping an eye out for the headhunter. He had let her know that Felicia had left her hotel and was heading towards the crashdown; and after her session in the library the previous evening, it was pretty much accepted that Felicia had figured out it was Liz and had come to case out the place and maybe try and frighten Liz. So she and Michael were keeping an eye out and it was her luck to spot the woman coming in the door- she fit the description to a t. About 5' 6", slender but not thin, brown hair and eyes. Attractive but not beautiful. Wearing jeans and shirt, carrying a long light trench coat. Probably where she kept her sword, Maria thought. She looked over at Michael and motioned towards the serving area. He narrowed his eyes and looked and nodded. He spotted her as well.

Maria walked up to Felicia and went into the standard greeting.

Felicia looked at the young waitress dressed in the ridiculous alien outfit complete with antenna and could not keep the smirk off of her face. This was beyond tacky. But to the matter at hand. She needed to pump the waitress for information. Which did not look like it would be too hard- she appeared to be the epitome of the blond ditz airhead.

Maria had decided to play up being blond- and the smirk the bitch had just helped her. Want to hurt Liz, eh? Well lets see how you can take airhead number one.  
"Liz Parker? Oh she is not working right now."  
Felicia gritted her teeth a little. " A friend of mine came through Roswell a while ago and mentioned that her parents own this place."

"Oh, yeah. For like forever."

"Is she going to be working today?"  
"Uh, I don't know"

"Could you find out?" Felicia managed to grind out as pleasantly as she possibly could, considering that she really wanted to strangle this bimbo.  
"Find out what?" Maria could see that the bitch was getting pissed and that really cheered her up. Find out if Liz is working today." "Oh, that. Well I could ask Michael he might know."  
"If you would. Please." It took all of Felicia's self control to be polite.  
"OK."  
Maria then spent the next 15 minutes puttering around the fairly empty diner before bringing Felicia her order.  
Felicia had been barely able to control her temper when the bimbo finally came back.  
"Here you go. Hope you like it. Michael is a pretty good cook."  
Maria started to go away when Felicia grated out " Is Liz going to be working today?  
" oh that. Michael does not know either. He thinks so but he is not sure."  
It was all Felicia could do not to bang her head on the table as the bimbo walked away.

The Watchers keeping an eye on Felicia had reported back to Joe that evening. Apparently, she had loitered around the Crashdown most of the day before giving up and heading back to her motel room. One of them had followed her into the Crashdown and had been close enough to hear the conversation between her and Maria. Joe had to laugh—Maria had really done the airhead bit to perfection. But now he had to wonder what her next step would be.

Duncan had pushed Liz to her limits all day Friday and all day Saturday, barely giving her a chance to catch her breath. His goal was to make her defensive moves automatic, without thinking, just reacting. Interspaced with teaching her the basic attack moves. He drilled it into her head that one must always be alert to the situation, to opportunities to take advantage of an opponent's mistakes. And to be able to recognize when the opponent is trying to lure you into over extension, to making your own mistakes that he can take advantage of. He was satisfied with her progress, but still very aware how inexperienced she was. And there was no real way to rectify that weakness; only time and surviving battles gave you experience—there were no short cuts.

Felicia was beginning to question some of her assumptions about Liz Parker. 16 years old is very young to be pulling the tricks that she suspected her of. And Duncan was not the sort to be teaching them anyway. But where could she have learned it from? Liz Parker was very lucky in apparently being able to continue her life as it had been, a very rare thing for immortals. Perhaps the security of the situation emboldened her? But how would she know about another Immortal in town except by feeling the buzz? And what newbie immortal would have the temerity to try and play games? Then Felicia remembered that Duncan knew about the Watchers. Her current watcher had found that out only a few months ago. Is it possible that he was getting information like she was? But once again, it came back to the fact that Duncan just did not play those kinds of tricks, and it was VERY doubtful that he would teach his student to do them either. Duncan had never trained a female immortal before—why now? This whole situation was not normal—perhaps she was over thinking this. Maybe—now she thought she was on the right track—this newbie was still on her post immortal high. Young and invincible. 16 years old—secure in her home not having to change—yes. That had to be the answer. She was just not taking it seriously. Well that was a mistake that would cost her her head. Felicia would just have to have a little more patience than normal.

Liz Parker was taking the whole thing VERY seriously, but it was really getting to her as for the 50th or 100th or whatever time she ended up on the floor of the barn with Duncan's sword at her neck. For a moment she just laid there and groaned. She looked up at Duncan. "Am I getting any better at all?"

Duncan stepped back and thought about it. It was Sunday, not quite noon. They had been at it since 7 AM that morning. And they had been pretty much doing 16-hour days both Friday and Saturday. Maybe he needed to take a pause. One thing he did not want was to make Liz unsure. And perhaps he had been pushing too hard—so aware of the limited time he had missed the big picture. Fighting ability was based on many different things—physical, mental, emotional. Going into a fight unsure and uncertain was a virtual death sentence. Just as bad if not worse than being unprepared. He reached down and gave her a hand up. "I think it's time we took a rest. I have been so focused on training you, I was not thinking about the whole picture. One must be ready in all areas—to be unready in one is to lose."

Liz was not averse to a little rest; outside of exhausted sleep each night, she had had none ever since Thursday. She groaned as the bumps and bruises made themselves felt as she walked over and sat on a bale of straw. She looked over at Duncan. "You will not hear me complaining about taking a break. I do think we need to talk about how we are going to arrange the fight. Of course it needs to be out of town—but we have to find a good spot that we can easily get to that no one will stumble on."

Duncan nodded. "We want it well clear of town and any farms or homes. Open space and level with little vegetation. We don't want anything that might trip you up or make you lose balance and concentration. Away from town means a daytime fight. But I have looked around Roswell, and the only abandoned warehouses that would allow a nighttime battle are too close to town. A quickening would draw too much attention."

Liz pondered. "You don't have to go far out of town in any direction to get plenty of distance from homes and farms. And fighting in the daytime would draw less attention if the stories I hear about lightning and such are true."

Duncan sighed. "They are true. Any nighttime fight would draw some attention because the effects of the Quickening can quite often be seen miles away."

"OK. I think the best place would be north of town—there are some decent roads that way that are easy to find and plenty of level areas to fight in. Actually northwest would be best. Over the years, I have been all around Roswell and the surrounding area—and I think it would attract the least amount of notice there."

"Sounds good. Now for the hard part—arranging this fight without scaring Felicia off. I think that is something you are going to have to do yourself. Just walk right up to her, and let her know in a public place that would make sure there is no way she would try a fight there, and also that would not attract any attention."

Liz nodded somberly. This whole thing was beginning to get to her somewhat. For all the stoical look she had been trying to project, this was a very scary situation.

Duncan accurately appraised the look on Liz's face. The seriousness of the circumstances was beginning to really get to her. He knew he needed to boost her confidence; that was actually more important than anything else he could do from this point on. She had down all the critical defensive moves very well; and the attack moves pretty well. Now it would just be a case of polishing them, and trying to make them as much second nature as possible. As an old soldier, he very well knew that in their first battle, green troops could only be expected to do as they had been trained. No more.

Duncan got up and motioned for Liz to follow him. He walked out of the barn into the bright sunlight of midday New Mexico. He walked toward the car and got in, after putting both swords in the trunk. Liz got in the other side and looked at him with a raised eye brow. Duncan smiled at her. "Time for a break, but let's use the time wisely. Let's find the place you would like to fight in."

Methos had decided that continuing the little game would probably not be more productive. He had done it to shake Felicia up and make her question her assumptions regarding Liz Parker. He had figured that there was no way that she would think Duncan was doing it—not the Boy Scout; playing tricks was so NOT his style. And he also was of the opinion that she would NOT think there was a third Immortal in town—for a place like Roswell and as small as it was that was simply unlikely to virtually unthinkable. So she had to think that it was Liz playing tricks, and it had to tick her off—some newbie trying to play a trick on HER. The more ticked off and agitated Felicia was the better for Liz. However he did not want to push her into maybe rethinking things and being more cautious. He had learned from Joe that she was staking out the Crashdown. She had to know that Liz lived above it and that she had been close enough to feel the buzz if Liz had been there. So she knew that Liz was not at the moment home. So she had to think that Liz would be back sooner or later and was just waiting. That was well and good—it was giving Liz more time to get ready.

Max had realized that staying at the Crashdown without Liz being there was a useless thing to do. He had been told by Maria that the headhunter had stopped by and that Maria had given her a real ration of crap. He smiled at the thought—Maria could do the air head thing really well when she wanted to. Michael had told him about it as well. He lost the smile as he contemplated the situation. The plan so far as he knew was for Liz to be back Monday afternoon. And sometime after that, the fight would be arranged. He did not know where or when, but he figured it would be outside of town during the day. He was determined to be there no matter what. Even though he knew there was nothing he could do—and if Liz lost, there was nothing he could do to save her. BUT he vowed that if that was the case, then Felicia Rising would die right there and then—permanently.

Maria had told Mr. Parker that she would not be able to work Monday. She knew Liz was coming back that day, and that the fight would come soon after. No matter what, she was going to be there. Even though she knew there was nothing she could do to help. Liz was her best friend, and no matter what, Maria would be there for her.

Alex was sitting behind his computer studying what he could find out about fighting with swords. He knew Liz was due back the next day, and the fight would come soon after. There was nothing he could do about anything, and that made him angry. So now he was trying to see if he could come up with something that would help Liz. He was going to be there for her no matter what.

Michael was working the same shift as Maria that day. He could see that while she was putting on a brave front, she was scared. And she had reason to be so. Liz would be back tomorrow, and soon after that came the fight. It frustrated Michael that there was nothing he could do. He knew Max was thinking the same thing as he was—if Liz lost, that bitch was going to die soon after—for good. One way or another.

Joe sat in the darkened Café—it was closed on Sunday's—and played an old Blues song he had learned long ago. As he picked at his guitar, he thought that this was a very strange situation. So many players that usually had nothing to do with a fight between Immortals were not only involved, but would almost certainly be watching. There was no doubt in his mind that Maria, Alex, and Max would be there; Duncan of course. He had no doubt that Methos would be watching. And of course the Watchers would be there in force. He had talked to Cynthia, and he knew she would be badly hurt if Liz lost. She had quickly grown close to the young woman.

Cynthia had not gone out to follow Liz. She knew where she was going, and it would be next to impossible for anyone to not be noticed watching that farm—the area around it was flat, open, and without trees or much vegetation at all. Duncan would call Joe when he left to come back, and Joe would call her. Then she would do her job. Even if it only lasted another day. She closed her eyes and prayed. Please let Liz survive—PLEASE.

Liz looked around the area she had thought would be the best place. North of town off the main roads. A clear area without trees or big rocks, level without ditches or anything much at all. Featureless, a place no one would notice. Nothing here at all. Which made it a good place for what was intended. She looked over at Duncan and nodded. This was the place.

Duncan stepped back as Liz got back up after he had managed to surprise her and sweep her legs while she was parrying an over hand strike. He was pleased that she had rolled and gotten away from his next strike downward. She had steadily improved over the last three days to the point where he had cautious optimism that she was ready for her first challenge. He checked his watch and saw that it was almost noon. This morning, he had been going over all the basic defensive and offensive moves. He thought that he had probably taught her as much as she could absorb in such a relatively short time period. He just hoped it was enough.

Liz got up and saw that Duncan was cleaning his sword—his signal that the training session was over. She was a little surprised; she had thought they would be going later into the day. She went over to the side of the barn, got her own cleaning cloth out, and went to work on her sword. It did not take long, and she was ready when Duncan headed out of the barn. He headed right into the house, and then over his shoulder "Pack everything up; we are heading back to Roswell."

Felicia was getting frustrated. She knew Duncan knew she was here and his newbie had been trying to play games. She had tried to get her watcher on the phone and got the answering machine. The same with her old watcher, but she really had not expected to get a hold of her anyway. Maybe a more direct approach was necessary. The question was whether to try the apartment or the café? She decided the café was the way to go.

The Watchers noted Felicia leaving her motel room and heading towards the Crashdown, and so notified Joe Dawson. He immediately called Duncan, knowing that, sometime today, they were coming back to Roswell.

Duncan answered his cell phone and told Joe that Liz was back at the Crashdown. He and Liz had discussed what to do if Felicia showed up there while Liz was there. He hoped things went as planned.

Liz had just got into the Crashdown, where by chance neither Maria nor Michael was working at the moment, when she felt the buzz. Duncan had dropped her off and headed over to the apartment. Just putting her clothes away, and knowing basically how far away an immortal could sense the buzz, she knew that Felicia had to be downstairs in the Crashdown. Taking a deep breath, she headed for the stairs.

Felicia felt the buzz right after she slid into a booth. She smiled—at last. She watched the serving area that she knew had a stairway upstairs. *Let's see if the newbie has the guts to come down and talk.*

Liz thought about getting her waitress uniform but decided against it. It would take a few minutes, and she wanted this over with NOW. Jose was cooking and Agnes and Sally were the waitresses. She was a little glad in one respect that Michael and Maria were not there at the moment; they might react and let Felicia know that others knew what was going on. In discussions with Duncan and Methos, they had agreed that keeping her from knowing that would ensure she did not back off and wait.

Felicia was watching and saw the young woman wearing jeans and a T-Shirt come through and look right at her. She was small and slight; this would not be much of a fight. Liz Parker walked up to her booth and looked down at her.

Liz had tried to rehearse what she was going to say and had finally decided to just wing it.

"Well finally. Took you long enough to figure out that I was having some fun. Duncan said you were not one for games and such, but I had to have some fun. It's 2 PM right now; here is a map of where I will be at 5 PM. It's north of town out in the country. Flat, level, just the place to settle this. Have a nice day." She dropped the map she had printed out on her computer and walked away.

Felicia sat there with her mouth open. The nerve of that bitch thinking she had the upper hand. Well she would learn soon enough. Too bad she would not be able to use the lesson Felicia was about to teach her in the future. She took the map and walked out of the diner.

Liz went into her room and closed the door. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she sat down on the bed and picked up the phone.

The Watchers saw her leave the diner with a piece of paper in her hand. They had decided not to enter, but to follow. Even thought the first confrontation with Liz Parker would have been interesting to observe. They followed Felicia back to her motel room, and then called Joe Dawson with the latest update.

Duncan put down his phone after Liz's call. He thought about what she had said. He smiled a little as he imagined Felicia's reaction. Getting your opponent angry is a good tactic—very few Immortals fought as well when they were angry. He looked at his watch—a little less than three hours until the fight.

Joe figured that Liz would tell Duncan what had happened, and he could wait to talk to him. He then called Cynthia to let her know that Felicia and Liz had had words in the Crashdown—and more than likely the setting for the fight had been decided on. He knew that Liz had picked out a place for it.

Maria was on her way to pick up Alex—she had decided to cut her afternoon classes, since Liz had said last night that they would be back in Roswell sometime that afternoon. She knew that today Alex had none. They had agreed to stick close to Liz this day to make sure they did NOT miss the battle to come. They were going to be there for Liz no matter what.

Max was just leaving his last class of the day and would be picking up Isabel and Michael—they had both made it clear that he was NOT going to be wandering around today without them being around. He was going to head over to Maria's house on the way back from school to find out what she knew—he figured that she would worm the details out of Liz somehow. All that mattered to Max was making sure he would be there.

Methos was sitting in Duncan's apartment with the inevitable beer in his hand when Duncan came in. He took in his demeanor and knew right away that it was in motion. "When and where?"

Duncan put his bag in the closet, went to the refrigerator, got a beer for himself, and decided to just go with the flow—and got another for Methos. He sat down in the easy chair that Joe usually used when he was there and looked at Methos. "Liz told me that she would set it for 5 PM if Felicia came by before 3. She would then arrange it for tomorrow at around 8AM if she did not come around. I just got the word from Joe that his watchers followed Felicia to the Crashdown about half an hour ago, so Liz will be there. She picked out a place north of town that should do."

Liz spent the next hour with her parents, knowing that it was possibly the last time she would see them, and she wanted to make sure that if it was the last time they saw her, that it would be with good memories. She had talked to Duncan about what to do if she lost. He had agreed to make it look like a car accident.

After leaving the upstairs, Liz went down into the Diner and saw Michael in the kitchen and Maria helping out Agnes with the crowd. Max, Isabel and Alex were in a booth. That surprised Liz some; she knew that Max would find a way to be there, but she was surprised that Isabel was. She figured that Isabel was there to make sure Max did not do anything stupid. She saw Michael leave the kitchen and go to the break room. She decided to let him know so that he could tell the others.

Michael saw Liz come into the break room. She looked sober and very serious as she walked up to him and handed him a piece of paper. On it was a map that showed a spot north of town.

"5 PM this afternoon. You have to make sure none of you are spotted or she will probably not come. I want this over, so stay out of sight." She then turned around and left the break room.

Liz knew that Maria had spotted her and headed up the stairs knowing that she would follow with Alex.  
Liz waited at the top of the stairs and led Maria and Alex through the upstairs out to the balcony where they could speak freely.

Michael walked towards the booth where Max and Isabel were—passing Alex who was following Maria towards the stairs. He sat down in the booth and handed Max the map.

"5 PM this afternoon. Liz said to make sure you are not seen, or that bitch might not show. Liz wants this over with now."  
Max looked at the map. Isabel looked at Michael. "She just told you like that?"  
Michael nodded. "Just handed me the map and said stay out of sight. Figured she would have it all planned out."  
Max looked at the map and said. "Let's go. That way we have plenty of time to find a good spot to see and not be seen." He got up, and they followed him out of the Crashdown.

Liz sat on her balcony; luckily the building was oriented so that they had shade at the moment as it was a fairly hot day. Maria sat right next to her, and Alex was on the other side.  
Maria had been looking hard at her friend from the moment she had spotted her.  
"How do you feel Liz?"  
Liz shrugged. "I am scared, of course. But I also want this done. If I lose, then, well, I was already supposed to be dead. I got an extra 3 months almost. Can't really complain."  
This worried Alex. Liz seemed too calm—he was afraid that she was resigned to losing.  
Maria was less subtle. "I DO NOT want to hear this Liz. You are going to kick this bitch's butt and send her head rolling. I refuse to think it will happen any other way, and you need to be the same."  
Alex chimed in. "Thinking you are going to lose will make you lose Liz. You have to be positive."

Liz looked at her two best friends and sighed. How to make them understand? Her whole world view had changed in the last 3 months, and that now separated her from those who had been so close before. She knew this was inevitable—she was different now and would always be so.

"It's not that, guys. I am very determined to bury the bitch. But I have to be practical and realize that I could lose. I have already made plans with Duncan to make it look like a car accident. I do not want anyone to suffer more than they already will. I will do everything I can to win and survive. And I believe I will. Felicia Rising has no idea how well-prepared I am. And I intend to make sure that she has no chance to learn anything different before I take her head."

Max, Isabel and Michael looked around the designated spot. They agreed that for what Liz wanted it was ideal. Flat, level, no real vegetation and hard ground. The problem was that they would have to be a fair distance away to avoid notice. There was a hill about a quarter mile away that was probably the best place. So they headed there, parking the jeep farther away, well out of sight of the road.

Duncan, Methos and Joe, who had arrived only half an hour after Duncan arrived, walked downstairs—it was just past 4, and they wanted to find a good spot to observe. They walked out of the building to find Cynthia waiting for them.  
"Since I am Liz's official watcher, I will be there. But it looks like I will not be the only one."  
Joe looked at the other two, then at Cynthia. "You will be the official watcher. I will be there because Duncan will be there. Adam is just being nosy."  
Methos snorted. "I am going to be there to make sure that there are no exaggerations from these two. They do like to embellish things." Duncan and Joe rolled their eyes as they got into Joe's car.

Liz sat in Maria's car as they headed out of town. They had gone down the fire escape with Liz wrapping up her sword in a raincoat. She had made them promise to stay out of sight.

Felicia looked at her watch and saw that it was almost 4:30. She got her sword and wrapped it in her thin trench coat. She was already looking forward to another quickening. It had been almost a year since her last one.

Liz got out of the car and gave Maria a look before she closed the door. Maria leaned out the window and grabbed her free hand. For once in her life, she said nothing. She just squeezed Liz's hand, let go, and drove away.

Joe, Duncan, Methos, Cynthia, Maria and Alex all arrived within minutes—they had all spotted the hill as the best place to observe without being seen. They found Michael, Isabel and Max waiting.

All of them looked at each other, and most of them laughed a little or smiled. Duncan just shrugged and introduced Cynthia, Methos and Joe to the others. Methos concentrated on the slight buzz that Max, Isabel, and Michael had. It was like nothing he had ever felt before—small but certain, and very different. Michael had been watching the road and said, "Here comes another car—is that her?"  
Joe squinted and then nodded. "That is her car alright."

Liz stood in the middle of the place she had picked. She had started her Kata and had almost finished it when she heard the car. She stopped and waited as calm as she could.

Felicia saw the newbie standing there with her sword. It looked like a Katana, only slightly smaller. Made sense—she needed as light a sword as possible. Not like it was going to do her much good. She got out of the car with her sword in her hand. Then looked around and could not see anyone. She was a little surprised that Duncan was not there—she knew he had to be around somewhere and wondered where the watchers were hiding—or at least one watcher anyway. Did not matter. Time to pay the little bitch back for her games.

Felicia gripped her sword—a modified Cavlary Sabre—just about as long as the newbies sword. As close as made no difference. Being taller she had a reach advantage anyway. She swung it around a few times, loosening up. Not that she would need much preparation. The newbie just stood there watching her—no expression on her face. Interesting—she expected more emotion to be visible—at least some nervousness and fear. No matter.

Liz suddenly felt her butterflies leave and felt very calm. She closed her eyes for a moment and prayed for the strength to survive. She then raised her sword, gripping it with two hands the way it had been made for her. She then started to move towards the headhunter.

Felicia was again surprised that the newbie was being aggressive and starting it—this might take less time then she had thought it would.  
Liz moved close, not changing her position—Felicia then made the first move—a straight slash that Liz easily parried. Liz did not make a counter move, but slid to the right with her sword in the same position as before in a classic defensive pose.  
Felicia saw that the newbie was a little stronger then she looked—obviously had worked on that. She made no offensive move which was fine with Felicia—that left her with the initiative, and she took it, throwing a series of cuts and slashes that the newbie parried. Still making no offensive moves.

Liz was feeling unnaturally calm. It was like a part of her was standing off in the distance. And she realized that Felicia was not as good as she thought she was. Her attacks were not particularly smooth or well done; of course being trained by Duncan McLeod as the only other comparison probably helped there. She continued to parry and move defensively.

Max was watching tensely—Liz seemed to be holding her own but was clearly not attacking. He both wanted and feared that.

Maria had a death grip on Alex's hand as they watched their friend fight for her life.

Isabel was astonished at Liz Parker and the way she seemed to flow with the fight—it was almost a dance.

Michael found his inner self identifying with Liz—feel out the enemy, assess his strengths and weaknesses before you strike.

Duncan watched his student fight and saw that Liz was being cautious and feeling Felicia out. He nodded to himself. So far so good.

Methos agreed with Duncan—if he had known what Duncan was thinking.

Joe watched Liz fight and quietly prayed. Just as Cynthia was doing.

Felicia was getting frustrated. The newbie had learned defense quite well—obviously Duncan had concentrated on it. Maybe he had only had time to do that. So she sped up the pace.

Liz saw that Felicia was getting frustrated and internally smiled. Just what she wanted. She continued to parry the increasing attacks—noting that they were getting more sloppy as well.

Joe, Duncan and Methos all saw that Felicia was getting frustrated and starting to get sloppy in her attacks. So far so good.

The others just saw Felicia attacking more and more and were a lot more worried.

Liz countered a particularly sloppy attack and decided to start something so she kicked Felicia in the side and moved away.

Startled by that—Felicia paused. The bitch had kicked her then moved away. MORE GAMES. Well screw that. And increased her speed of attack.

Liz was able to parry every move and realized that the opportunity to take the initiative was at hand. After another hurried attack, Liz kicked her in the side then snapped a fist right to her face. Felicia staggered back and brought her hand up to her face, and found blood on it. She stared at Liz, who was back in the same position she had started the fight.

Felicia now saw only red. This bitch was going down. She charged Liz with her sword high for a downward strike with all her strength—and Liz moved faster then she had ever had before to the right and slashed Felicia deeply right across the stomach.

Duncan, Methos and Joe nodded as they saw Liz make her first attack successfully. The others winced and gasped, except for Michael who just nodded to himself.

Felicia staggered backwards trying to bring up her sword, but she was too slow, and Liz knocked it aside before stabbing her in the chest, dead center. Felicia dropped her sword and went to her knees, blood pouring out of her mouth.

For a moment Liz considered just walking away—but she knew that Felicia was the type to always be a threat—and knew it had to end now. With a smooth, stroke she pulled all the way back and swung with all her strength taking Felicia Rising's head.

Maria gasped and put both hands to her mouth; Alex closed his eyes in horror and mingled relief; Isabel just stared, and Max closed his eyes, and for the first time in his life, he thanked god. Michael nodded again to himself—end it quick and clean. Just right.

Cynthia made herself watch the whole thing—but inside, she was thanking god that Liz was the winner.

Joe also closed his eyes and thanked god. Then he pulled out his phone and made the call to the watchers waiting in Roswell to come out and take care of the body.

Duncan nodded to himself and sighed. He was glad that Liz was the winner, but knew that it would haunt her. As it had always haunted him.

Methos was expressionless. He had thought from the first few minutes that Liz would win if she did not make any mistakes, so he was not surprised at all. He had worried for a moment when Liz stood back that she would make the mistake of not finishing it. But she had, and that was what mattered.

Liz stood there for a moment looking at Felicia Risings headless body. Then she saw what looked like lightning emerge from the body and swirl around and then strike her. It was like the mother of all electric shocks—and she felt Felicia and all those she had beheaded. And then the emotions and the memories and everything else hit her, and she screamed.

All the rest stood transfixed as what appeared to be lightning came out of the corpse and hit Liz. And then she screamed and went to her knees.

Before anyone could stop him, Max was running towards Liz. The rest followed him with Duncan and Methos yelling at them to stay clear. Of course, they did not listen.

It was indescribable. All those young women; so many afraid and terrified; Felicia's gloating at her wins so unfairly won; all that combined knocked Liz to her knees, then to all fours. She gasped for breath as it continued—then it stopped, and there was nothing but silence.

It took Max only about a minute to get to Liz; luckily the lightning storm ended just before he got to her. He fell to his knees in front of her, gently putting out his hand to draw the hair from her face as she stayed there, on her hands and knees.

Liz felt a hand move her hair aside, and she was able to just barely raise her head and look at Max. Her eyes were glazed, and she was breathing hard and shaking. The look in her eyes scared Max, and he took her into his arms, pulling her onto his lap.

All the rest of them arrived soon after, except for Joe who went down the hill to the car and drove over. They gathered around Liz. Duncan looked closely at Liz and saw that she was still dazed from the quickening. He went over and picked up her sword. He pulled out a handkerchief and proceeded to wipe off the blade. Maria fell to her knees next to Liz and asked the first question.

"Liz, chica, are you ok? That was incredible. All that lightning and everything else."

Liz managed to raise her head, and in an exhausted voice, said, "I can't describe it. All those young women—how scared they were. And she was gloating all the time. Taunting them before she took their heads. She was a real piece of work. I am glad I stopped her."

Isabel stood next to Michael, who seemed very calm about the whole situation. She looked at him "You seem to be pretty calm, Michael—why?"

Michael thought for a moment then shrugged. "Somehow I understood—it was like I had been in the same position sometime and had to do the same thing. I can't explain it."

Alex was still in shock. Liz had made it look easy and simple. He shivered—he hoped that this did not change her.

After a few minutes, Liz stirred and slowly got up with help from Max. She looked around and took her sword back from Duncan. She held it up and looked at it for a moment. Then she looked around at her friends.

"Well, let's head for home. No reason to stay around here. What's done is done. I will not celebrate it, but I am not sorry for it. After feeling her, this was the only way it could have ended. For a moment, I was tempted to just walk away. Now I am glad I did not. She would have always been a threat to me and others. She made her own grave, and I just put her in it." Then she looked up at Max.

"Take me home, Max."

Epilogue

Duncan hugged Liz and stepped back. Liz smiled at him a little mistily.

"Saying thank you just does not seem enough. Without you, I would be dead or on the run, probably soon dead anyway to a headhunter. These last 5 months have been bizarre in so many ways, but you have been a constant. I hope to be good enough one day that you will send any female newbies to me to train. I want to be that good, and I want to help them as you helped me. Let me take a page from one of my favorite shows: Live Long and Prosper, Duncan McLeod."

Duncan smiled at her, and then got into his car and drove away. Liz watched until he was out of sight. Cynthia was standing next to her. Joe had left a week ago to go back to Seacouver and start running his bar again. Methos had left a month ago, telling Liz that he for one hoped to see her soon outside of Roswell. She had smiled at him, and said she was leaving only when she had to. She looked over at Cynthia and decided to bring up something she had been thinking about.

"It has occurred to me that Joe and the rest of the friends of Duncan McLeod just do not quite fit. There were too many of them in Albuquerque, and so many of them relocated to Roswell on a week's notice. As fine a man as Duncan is, that just does not track. I have been thinking about this for quite a while, and it has occurred to me that just maybe someone else knows about Immortals and has been keeping track of them for a long time. Cleaning after them by getting rid of the bodies—as many as there are out there, this would have been commented on before now. Add to that, I got some memories and impressions from Felicia. All in all, it seems to me that no matter where I go, I have a hunch I will be seeing you around. Right?"

Cynthia was stumped. How was she going to answer that? Liz was way too smart and sharp to miss much, and it was known that some immortals learned more than others from quickening. She decided to just play along. She would call up Joe and let him know that Liz suspected her and was putting the pieces together way too well to not figure it out in the end.

So she just smiled at Liz and said. "I will be around." Then walked away.

Liz was a little frustrated but understood that Cynthia was probably just following orders. Liz thought that someone was keeping track of Immortals, and Cynthia was probably the one that was to keep an eye on her. It was an interesting question—but then she had lots of time to figure it out.

The 2 months since her fight had gone by very quickly. Duncan had continued to train her, polishing her and getting her to refine her movements and tactics. He also was there to help her come to terms with the quickening she had gotten from Felicia Rising. She still occasionally had dreams that she knew were not hers. Felicia had been one twisted female, and Liz really did not want some of the memories and impressions she had gotten, but it was all part of the package. Duncan now considered her ready to stand on her own two feet, but made it clear that she was supposed to call him anytime she had a question, or if another immortal challenged her, she was to call him right away. Liz smiled to herself—Duncan was a bit of a mother hen, but she would not have it any other way.

Other changes had come gradually as well. She and Max were getting closer all the time. Having shared secrets seemed to help. What was very interesting was that Maria and Michael seemed on the verge of couplehood—and at the least made things very entertaining. Mt. St. Maria had erupted on several occasions due to Michael, who seemed unfazed by the smoke, fire, and ash. What was even more interesting was that Alex and Isabel seemed to be starting something as well, though Alex was keeping very tightlipped about it. Liz and Isabel had started a cautious friendship, Isabel trying to overcome a lifetime of aloofness and staying away from people. For some reason Liz and Michael were completely comfortable in each other's company, which was a mystery to all. They just seemed to understand each other, and that was fine as it was.

Joe put down the phone, and sat back and thought. Cynthia's phone call was not exactly a surprise. Liz was indeed way too smart and sharp and observant to believe the cover story about all those people being friends of Duncan or beholden to him one way or another. Her comment about cleaning up after immortals was particularly sharp. He sighed. Then he picked up the phone to call Duncan. He decided at the time to keep things as quiet as he could—and had told Cynthia to just string Liz along as best she could. Things were still settling down in the Watcher world. Both watchers of Felicia Rising had been found guilty of interference and becoming part of the game, and had been quietly executed. Only the council and Joe and a few others knew what had happened. The cover story was a car accident. But the repercussions would be a long time going. Even now a special investigative group was going over the last 20 years of immortal battles looking for trends and patterns. So far nothing serious had shown up, but they were probably a least a year away from getting it done. Joe really hoped nothing else came up—it was bad enough as it was.

Duncan walked into his Dojo and saw Richie lounging next to the office and Charlie right next to him. Duncan raised an eyebrow as he walked in. Richie grinned at him. Charlie did as well. Duncan began to get suspicious. "OK, what have the two of you been up to." At that moment the phone rang. Since neither of them seemed to be interested in answering it, Duncan did. "Hello, Desalvo Gym, Duncan McLeod speaking."

"Oh, I am glad to get a hold of you, Mr. McLeod. We, here at St. Mary's Home for the homeless and disadvantaged,wanted to thank you for your participation in our auction on Tuesday, even though you were unable to be there. Your associates were very clear that you would be happy to be part of it, but I wanted to confirm it with you." The older sounding female voice put forth.

Duncan looked hard at Richie and Charlie who were now openly grinning widely. Duncan then went back to the phone. "I have a vague idea, but what were the exact requirements?"

"Well really just that one date, Mr. McLeod. As the single most valuable donation during the auction, Mrs. Masters was very firm about that."

"Mrs. Masters?"

"Yes. Ever since her husband died, she had been very much alone, and when she heard about our auctioning off of handsome eligible bachelors, she just had to take part in it. Said that was the most fun she had since skinny dipping in college 50 years ago." 


End file.
